Harry Potter and The Prophecy of A Seer
by LuCz
Summary: Set after Order of the Phoenix. Do not read unless you have finished OoTP. My first attempt at a weak emulation of Miss Rowling's work. May come to H/G later on. Flames welcome and encouraged.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and characters related to it. Harry Potter and its characters are the intellectual property of the talented J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Scholastic, Raincoast, and Bloomsbury books. Storyline and plot have been developed partially based on the plots, characters and storylines of the first 5 installments of Harry Potter, The Sorceror's Stone, The Chamber of Secrets, The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Goblet of Fire and The Order of the Phoenix. 

Authors note: This story is based after Order of the Phoenix. Therefore, if you have not FINISHED reading The Order of the Phoenix I would advise you not to read this fan fiction until you have as it is based after Order of the Phoenix. Flames are welcome.

Chapter 1:

                                Most students found summer holidays the best times of their lives, being able to worry about nothing school related for the whole season was enough for most kids to celebrate. Children could be seen playing in the parks and running up and down the neighborhood streets of Little Whingding, laughing and chattering happily, basking in the warmth of the summer sun. A black haired teenager with spectacles and messy hair was looking out the window of number 4, Privet Drive. 

"At least someone else is having a good time," thought Harry Potter. 

The name Harry Potter was not at all known in the muggle world by ordinary people, but in the wizarding world, Harry Potter is the boy-who-lived, the boy who had defied the Dark Lord on four separate occasions, the boy who had lived to tell the world of the Dark Lord's return, and there he was, sitting in his bedroom staring out the window, the weight of the world seemingly resting on his shoulders.

Harry had no idea really how he had managed to stay sane for the past 4 weeks. The recent events that he had been through in the past 2 years would have been enough to turn a normal boy insane. 2 years ago he had witnessed the return of the Dark Lord Voldemort, the most powerful and evil wizard that the wizarding world had ever known and he had lived to return to tell the tale, yet, the whole of the past year he was shunned and labeled as a show-off and a maniac by most people save a few that had believed his story. When the world was finally convinced of his words of truth, the price he felt he had to pay was too great to bear, for he had lost the closest thing to a parent he ever had, his godfather Sirius Black. 

His heart sank for what felt like the hundredth time during that summer as he thought of his godfather again. Harry hadn't really talked about his feelings to anyone. He still found it too difficult to talk about Sirius and had tried to distract himself for the past month by occupying his time with studying the articles in the Daily Prophet about self defense, which had been printed frequently since the return of the Dark Lord. Harry was surprised though, if not gratified in a way that no reports of muggle attacks or serious dark activity had been reported so far. Still, there were reported sightings of Voldemort supporters rallying in the North of the country, and rumors of dark activity taking place within the community. It seemed though, that no one was really sure of what Voldemort was up to.

Harry had written letters to Ron and Hermione, hoping that they would have had managed to receive some wind on recent events but it seemed that all they knew was as much as he knew. 

_I can't say we've heard anything here Harry, it seems like You-know-who has decided to keep things quiet for a while after his failure last year. Father says that the ministry is just short of being in chaos, it seems that Fudge isn't doing a very good job on locating You-know-who and getting information on his activities. Don't worry, we'll definitely tell you if we hear anything important. _

_                                                                                    Ron_

"Fudge is messing things up in the ministry, figures," he thought. His letters from Hermione had been more or less the same as Ron's.

_I'm sorry Harry I only know as much as you do. I won't hold out on anything after what we made you go through last summer don't worry, but I seriously do not know anything aside from what I hear on the news. I'll tell you if I find out anything alright. Please write to me if you need to talk about, well, what had happened last year. I'm always here to listen. _

_                                                                                       Hermione_

Harry fully appreciated his friend's openness now. They had kept him in a loophole the whole of last summer when Voldemort was at large. This year however, he was sure they would not keep information from him. He also appreciated Hermione's efforts to get him to open up, but every time he thought of writing down what he felt, the hurt he had gone through, the emptiness he felt, he just couldn't put it into words. He was seriously getting tired of Privet Drive and couldn't wait to get away from the place. 

It didn't seem all that simple though. He had wanted to write to Professor Dumbledore, asking permission if he could leave Privet Drive and go to the Burrow to spend some time with the Weasleys, but it seemed that Professor Dumbledore had already anticipated his request and he had already received a letter from Remus Lupin, his late parents and godfather's best friend. 

_I know it's difficult for you to stay at that place Harry, but be patient for a while. Things will work out. Write to me if you ever need to talk okay?_

_                                                                                        Remus_

Harry was touched by his friend's efforts to try and relieve him of the burden he felt that was weighing down on him like a ton of bricks, but it seemed so difficult for him to express what he felt. He was as confused himself, about the state of his emotions. He sincerely wanted to write to them to try and get the weight off his shoulders but it seemed so difficult to express himself. Although he had got along with his former professor extremely well during his third year, he still found it difficult to open up completely with Remus. He did not know how to explain it himself, but it just wasn't like talking to Sirius. His heart sank again as he knew he would have liked nothing better than to talk to Sirius right now, but the man he had come to love as a surrogate parent was no longer there to give him the advise he so craved. Being in Privet Drive didn't do much to help his state of mind either. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were not treating nearly as bad as they would normally for fear of the warnings that Alastor Moody, Nymphadora Tonks, Remus and Mr.Weasley gave Uncle Vernon at King's Cross at the beginning of the term holidays. Though they did not treat him as badly as they normally did, they still took every opportunity to blame him for whatever went wrong in the house just like they did back in his second year when they were unaware of the fact that he was not allowed to use magic outside of Hogwarts. More than once, Uncle Vernon had given him stern warnings on his behaviour,  
  


"Do not, for a moment think that your _friends have the right to dictate what you can, or cannot do under my roof. You have long benefited from the generosity your aunt and I have given you, eating food off our table and wearing the clothes we give you………"_

The last warning he had received from Uncle Vernon ended with his losing temper at his relatives and storming out of the house without caring about the potential dangers that he might face away from the protection offered to him by the home he had been brought up in. Nothing did happen to him on that particular day but he had learned to be more wary of the dangers that might be present should he be outside the house. 

"Just a few more weeks and I'll be able to go back to where I belong. I'll just have to suck it up and bear with it," he thought.

The sky was already darkening and he could see Dudley returning home from his usual day of hanging out with his gang. Dudley had become even more afraid of Harry since his run in with the Dementor last summer. Somehow, he was convinced that Harry had cast a spell on him and he stayed away from Harry the whole summer. Once, there had been a power failure at Privet Drive and the Dursleys were quick to punish Harry whom they thought was responsible for it. The sudden darkness had made Dudley whimper in panic and he very nearly wet himself, remembering his experience with the Dementors. Harry still saw Dudley and his gang every time he fancied a walk away from the house but Dudley made sure that he was nowhere near Harry, or that he even noticed him. Many a time Harry had been tempted to get Dudley to pick a fight with him, but he remembered his godfather's advice the previous summer telling him not to get into trouble. With respect to that, he kept his bitterness with the Dursleys as minimal as he could muster all summer. He could not wait for the moment when he would get to leave Privet Drive again and see his friends. "I hope they get me out of here as soon as possible," he muttered to himself as he set downstairs to oblige his screaming aunt asking him to watch the stew while she answered the phone. 

Much later that night, Harry sat by the windowsill in his bedroom, looking longingly out the window up at the clear night sky, hoping for some sign that he would get a message from his friends telling him that he could finally leave this place and join them for the rest of the summer. Harry had taken to staying up late on most nights during the summer, appreciating the peace and quiet that the night offered. It gave him time to relax his mind somewhat. Truth be told, Harry had found that sleeping had become increasingly difficult over the past few weeks due to the nature of his dreams, the constant, repeating one being the night which his godfather was murdered before his very eyes. Many times, Harry had found it hard for him to settle down to sleep as his mind raced with the many emotions that he had been feeling all summer. Often enough, Harry would just stare into the blank emptiness of the night and allow fatigue to take over him before he fell asleep. On this particular night however, Harry noticed a flying object approaching his window. His heart suddenly leapt when he realized that it was an owl approaching his window, and he might finally get his wish, a reply from his friends about whether or not he could join them for the remainder of the summer. However, as the owl approached his window he realized that he did not recognize this particular owl. It perched on his windowsill and he thanked the owl while untying the letter that was tied to its leg. He noticed that it was an official Hogwarts letter and for a moment he thought it might be a letter from Dumbledore.

Harry let out a gasp as he saw what the letter contained. It was his O.W.L results. He had almost forgotten that he had just sat for the Ordinary Wizarding Level tests the previous year, with all that he had been through. "This is………..unbelievable," he thought as he looked through his achievements. There were 14 aspects of O.W.Ls in total it seemed, and the papers were graded both on the practical and the written examinations he had sat for. He was quite amazed with the results he had achieved, considering all that he went through the previous year. He had achieved Acceptables in his practical and written Potions, Herbology, and also the written papers for Astronomy and Transfiguration. He also managed to get Exceeds Expectations on both written and practical Charms, as well as his written Defense Against the Dark Arts paper, and practical Transfiguration. The clinchers were the grades for his Defense Against the Dark Arts practical and Care of Magical Creatures, both which he had earned Outstandings. This had brought his total to 11 O.W.Ls, (He had only managed Poors for his History of Magic, practical Astronomy and Divination, which he did not feel disappointed for in the least) which he had not expected. 

He was just wondering about how his friends had done when he spotted another owl flying to his window. This time, he recognized the owl as Pig, his friend Ron's owl. Pig hooted merrily as he delivered the stood on the windowsill for Harry to retrieve the letter and Harry obliged the playful owl while telling him to keep it down as he did not want to wake his aunt and uncle who might already be asleep. He opened Ron's letter and began to read:

_Harry,_

_            The O.W.Ls are back. Can you believe it? I got 8 O.W.Ls, that's way better than the twins and way better than I expected. Didn't manage any Outstandings but I'm not complaining. Mum is though, she thought I might have been able to scrape up one or two more O.W.Ls, but she's pleased anyway. I bombed for History of Magic, Astronomy (both papers), Divination, and the written Transfiguration and Potions papers. Probably means I won't do Transfiguration for my N.E.W.Ts. Not that I'm really complaining though. I can't believe I got through practical potions though. Never thought I brewed the damn potion correctly. Anyway there's also another reason why I wrote to you. Dad says that Dumbledore has agreed to let you spend the rest of the summer back at headquarters, seeing that it's the next safest place to Hogwarts and your home right now. Dad didn't tell me how they were going to get you, but he told me to tell you to be ready come evening two days from now. He didn't tell me how he was going to bring you there but Hermione and I will be there, Ginny too. Mum also insisted on coming along. See you in two days Harry. _

_P.S. Hermione got full O.W.Ls by the way, she's still a little disappointed I think, she only managed 12 Outstandings. If you ask me, I think she's mental. _

_                                                                                    Ron_

He had just finished with Ron's letter and he was feeling happier and more relieved then he had been in the past few weeks. He was going to leave Privet Drive and he would be able to see his friends again. Somehow or rather though, he didn't feel as happy as he thought he would be. He was going back to Grimmauld Place. It would feel empty without Sirius there. He wondered how Sirius had done for his O.W.Ls, and how his father did. He never got a chance to ask Sirius about that, or to talk to Sirius about what he wanted to do after Hogwarts, or the N.E.W.Ts he should take. Sure, he had talked to Professor McGonagall about his future as an Auror, but he had never got Sirius's opinion about the job. He wondered what Sirius would have thought about his results, and what he would have said knowing that he had managed all that with so many other things going on last year. He wondered if his parents would have been proud of his unexpected achievement, would Sirius? These thoughts kept ringing in his head as he buried his head in his pillow, face first, and for the first time throughout the entire summer and even since his godfather passed away, Harry Potter cried himself to sleep.

Authors note: I have no idea on how the O.W.Ls are graded, but this is my best guess, seeing as how Percy got 12 in the second book and there seems to be only 8 subjects. I am assuming that the grades will be given on both practical and written papers. If someone else has any better ideas please share them. Thanks. 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and characters related to it. Harry Potter and its characters are the intellectual property of the talented J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Scholastic, Raincoast and Bloomsbury books. Storyline and plot have been developed partially based on the plots, characters and storylines of the first 5 installments of Harry Potter, The Sorceror's Stone, The Chamber of Secrets, The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Goblet of Fire and The Order of the Phoenix. 

Chapter 2

            In the two days that Harry had to wait for his freedom from Pivet Drive, he had been completely ignored by his aunt and uncle. This was due to the conversation that had took place the day Harry decided to inform his relations that he would no longer be staying with them for the rest of the summer. He had conveyed his intention to leave Privet Drive to his uncle who, upon receiving the news found it fit to point out to Harry that he had been coming and going from the house as he pleased for the past few years.

"What is the point of you coming back to this house if you're going to leave it every summer?" his uncle shouted, "We don't like you under our roof boy, eating our food and wearing the clothes we give to you, but do not and I repeat DO NOT think that your aunt and I will tolerate your disrespect for this household. You come and go as you please every year since you went to that-that school of yours. If you're going to keep leaving why don't you leave for good so that we can be rid of you forever? Coming in here with that-that unnaturalness, same as your parents, and see what happens to them? And now you come into our home and you bring all this trouble with you! Don't expect us to tolerate your behavior any longer boy," he was shouting at the top of his lungs until his face purpled. 

In the past, Harry would have thought of some way to convince his uncle that his leaving the house would be best for all of them. This time however, Harry was not going to play the role of the innocent victim while his uncle raged at him in all his ignorance. 

"LOOK, I do not like being here any more than you do! As for why I bother to come back every year, well, ask Aunt Petunia about it if you're so curious! Someone will be here to take me away from this place in the evening tomorrow so whether you like it or not I will be leaving! There is an evil Dark Wizard …." He shot back at his uncle and realized he had mentioned something that his relations were not fond of. 

"DON'T YOU DARE MENTION THAT ABNORMALITY UNDER THIS ROOF BOY!" shouted Uncle Vernon in a very murderous tone. He was going to continue before Harry shouted back, 

"YOUR IGNORANCE IS UNBELIEVABLE! DO YOU THINK THAT VOLDEMORT IS NOT GOING TO BOTHER YOU AND YOUR FAMILY WHETHER OR NOT I AM LIVING HERE? DO YOU THINK THAT THE TROUBLES IN THE WIZARDING WORLD ARE NO CONCERN OF YOURS? LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING, THE LAST TIME VOLDEMORT WAS IN POWER HE WAS KILLING MUGGLE FAMILIES, YES HE WAS KILLING INNOCENT "NORMAL" PEOPLE LIKE YOU. THE ONLY REASON YOUR HOME IS SAFE IS BECAUSE DUMBLEDORE PUT A CHARM OVER THIS HOUSE THAT IS STRONG ENOUGH TO KEEP HIM FROM COMING HERE. I DO NOT CARE ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU OR YOUR FAMILY BUT YOU BEAR IN MIND WHEN I SAY THAT THINGS ARE NOT ALWAYS THE WAY IT SEEMS TO YOU, WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO GET THAT THROUGH YOUR THICK HEAD?! 

Normally this kind of behavior would have been enough to earn Harry a month's worth of being locked in his room without any proper food to eat, but this time he made it perfectly clear that he was not going to put up with anything the Dursleys do to him, and, with the added reassurance that someone was going to be looking for him the following day Uncle Vernon was deterred from taking any action on his nephew. In any case, Harry had stormed into his bedroom and remained in there for the rest of the day, ignoring even his empty stomach during dinner (which the Dursleys could not be bothered if he wanted to eat or not). He had not bothered to mention that the charm Dumbledore placed on their house involved him and his relationship to Aunt Petunia. He no longer cared about his relations. What he wanted more than anything in the world right now was never to see his bumbling oaf of an uncle and his cousin, or his nagging aunt again for the rest of his life. 

In the days before his time to freedom came however, Harry seemed to notice strange things around the house at Privet Drive. More than once, he had had a feeling that something or someone was watching him as he sometimes decided to take a stroll outside the house, or when he was doing chores for Aunt Petunia in the garden. More than once, as he turned around to see if he was really being watched, he had managed to catch a glimpse of a dark robed figure disappearing around trees or corners. A lot of times however, he felt like he was just imagining things as he never seemed to get a second look at these dark robed figures. On a few occasions, he could swear that these figures had started to observe him from a much closer distance. He had asked himself if they could be Death Eaters watching him at Privet Drive. However, it seemed strange that Death Eaters would appear in the broad daylight, and Death Eaters always wore masks. Although Harry had never managed to glimpse upon the looks of his observers, he could make out enough to tell that they were not wearing masks, and that they did not have hoods over their heads as he had noticed a head full of hair more than once. He hoped that the answers to his apparent paranoid delusions would be attained when he got to Grimmauld Place. 

Harry looked at the clock on his bedside. It was already evening and his stuff had already been packed. Where was the person or people that were supposed to bring him over to Grimmauld Place? Had they forgotten? Or were they just trying to get his hopes up but they never had any intention of bringing him away from his safe place? He was pondering all these facts when suddenly, a loud *CRACK* made him jump and he realized that Remus Lupin and Arthur Weasley were standing in his bedroom. Remus Lupin still looked as shabby as he always was, and his grey hair was even more prominent than it was the last time Harry saw him, but he still had the same determined and resolved look in his eyes which characterized his true strength. Mr.Weasley looked the same as always, although it did look as though he was balding a little more and seemed to have lost a little bit more hair over the summer. 

"Hello Harry, we hope you are well, and as you should already know we have come to take you to Headquarters," said Lupin with a soft smile on his face.

"Professor Lupin, Mr.Weasley, said a rather stunned Harry. "Why did you just apparate into my bedroom like that? And how are we going to get to headquarters?" asked Harry, who didn't quite want to sound the way he did but was far too surprised to say it any differently. 

"CONFOUND IT BOY WHAT IN BLAZES DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING UP THERE?" roared his uncle as Harry heard him storming up the stairs. 

"Remus I think I will handle Harry's uncle, why don't you answer his question and we'll get going as soon as we can," went Arthur Weasley as he opened the door to meet a purple faced Uncle Vernon.

  
"YOU……………," was all that Uncle Vernon could manage to say as Mr.Weasley had already muttered the words "_obliviate__" softly and Uncle Vernon seemed to be in a really happy daze. Mr.Weasley led Uncle Vernon out the door and left Lupin and Harry to talk._

"Ah Harry, Dumbledore decided that it would be best that your leaving this place be kept as quiet as possible. He also thought it best that you left without attracting any attention or being seen," answered Lupin who continued, upon seeing the puzzled look on Harry's face, "We have not heard of any Death Eater activities lately, and Dumbledore believes that Voldemort might have spies that are watching over this place and watching your very movement. They have not attempted anything towards you as they know that you are being watched over every day, but it seems that Dumbledore thinks that sooner or later they will find a way to lure you away from the safety of your home. It is best that we do not take any chances. Therefore we are to go to headquarters as discreetly as possible. Here take this, it is a portkey that will send you directly to Grimmauld Place." as he handed Harry a small cup. 

"Here Harry, let me get your stuff for you," said Remus as he pointed his wand towards Harry's luggage and uttered the words, "_Locomotor_ trunk___"._

"We'll have your stuff at Grimmauld Place after you arrive as soon as we brief another member on some things,  don't worry about it," said Mr.Weasley as he came back into the room and put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "Your uncle's memory has been modified to avoid any……unpleasantries. I've left a note to your aunt and uncle just as Remus did last year with the usual……assurances," he continued with a smile. 

Harry closed his eyes and took the cup, and instantly felt as though he was jerked from the navel and flung across his room through the air like a fish being reeled in by a fisherman through a big whirlpool. This continued for several moments before he felt his feet land on solid ground again. 

"There you are Harry, it's so nice to see you again. Are you alright?" went a voice from behind him, he turned around to see the motherly figure of Mrs.Weasley approaching him and before he could reply she had him in a big motherly hug. "After all you've been through, how could they have sent you to that dreadful place your aunt and uncle call home," she said with a sigh, "Come on in and have some dinner, I'm sure you're hungry," she said to him as she ushered him into the kitchen.

Harry definitely felt like he could use something to eat, after all, he had not had anything to eat in almost a whole day and he felt like he could eat a whole Hippogriff right about now. He stepped into the familiar kitchen of Grimmauld Place to a familiar face,

 "Harry!" shouted the tall lanky boy with freckles and red hair. "It's great to see you mate. Mum's been pining away all month, _how is he going to cope in that horrible place with all he's been through, he should be around people that treat him like family__, _and so on. But she has a point, I don't think you were very happy at all with your relatives were you," he said as he grabbed Harry a seat. 

"Well, I did have one or two arguments with Uncle Vernon, but other than that I just stayed out of their way pretty much. Don't think I could stand another day with Uncle Vernon reminding me of how ungrateful I am. Where's Hermione by the way?" he asked Ron as he sat down at the dinner table, his mouth starting to water seeing all the food in front of him. 

"Oh she's just upstairs doing something with Ginny. I think Mum's going to get……." But before Ron could finish his sentence two girls came running into the kitchen. 

"Harry! Oh Harry its great to see you again," cried Hermione as she almost knocked him over with a hug. 

"*cough* It's great to see you too Hermione, but if you don't let go of me soon I think our reunion will be short-lived, I'm running out of air," he pretended to gasp but had become quite accustomed to the way that Hermione greeted him when they saw each other after a long break during the summer. 

"Oh, sorry Harry," she said blushing a little as she let go of him. 

"I was just teasing Hermione," said Harry with a smile and he looked over to the other red-headed figure and he wasn't quite prepared for what he was about to see. 

Author's Note: I can't seem to get any ideas on how Harry should leave the Dursleys this time. After all, every year it seems he leaves in a different way, the only way he hasn't used yet it seems, is by apparating and by portkey. We all know Harry can't apparate so I decided to use a portkey although I sincerely doubt Miss Rowling will resort to something that simple. Anyway I hope my reasoning for the way Harry left the Dursleys is logical enough and if anyone is wondering about book 5, when Lupin said it was more then their life's worth to set up an unauthorized portkey, well I'll explain about the portkey in a chapter or two ahead. Thanks.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and characters related to it. Harry Potter and its characters are the intellectual property of the talented J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Scholastic, Raincoast and Bloomsbury books. Storyline and plot have been developed partially based on the plots, characters and storylines of the first 5 installments of Harry Potter, The Sorceror's Stone, The Chamber of Secrets, The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Goblet of Fire and The Order of the Phoenix. 

Chapter 3

Harry was rather shocked, "Ginny?" 

The red-headed girl looked at him and replied, "Well it's not like you haven't seen me before Harry, how've you been?" she seemed to be blushing very slightly at this, but it was not the usual Weasley blush, it was more like a little livid color on her freckled cheeks. 

"Um, sorry Ginny, but I almost didn't recognize you, you've changed quite abit during the summer," replied Harry a little quicker then he normally would have, but he had every reason to be a shocked by Ginny's appearance. She seemed to have grown a few inches, and she was now only a little shorter then he was. Her hair which was once long was now stylishly cut short, her fringes covering her eyes slightly. She had also filled out quite abit, revealing a more curvaceous figure then Harry had remembered previously. 

"Oh well, Hermione's been helping me with a new look, I'd say it worked rather well Hermione," she replied as Hermione was suddenly caught in a fit of giggles at Harry's slightly dumbfounded face. 

"Well, she did a good job I'll say," went Harry who suddenly became very interested in his mashed potatoes. Hermione seemed to have sensed this slight discomfort and composed herself to start on another topic, "So Harry, you still haven't told us how you did for your O.W.Ls."

"She's right mate, spit it out, how badly did you do?" asked Ron playfully through a mouthful of meatballs. "Well……." He went, "I kinda did much better than I had expected. I got.." before he could finish they were interrupted by a loud CRACK and Mr.Weasley and Remus Lupin stood in the kitchen. 

"Ah, we made it for dinner. I'm famished. I've put your stuff in your room Harry," said Mr.Weasley as he sat down next to Mrs.Weasley and started to attack the food. 

"Sorry we took a little longer than planned to get back for dinner Molly, we had to drop by at Arabella Figg's to brief her on what has taken place," added Lupin before sitting down and joining the table for dinner. 

Ron cleared his throat and turned to Harry, "So Harry, you were saying you got how many O.W.Ls?"

"I was about to say I got……….," and again this was all that Harry had managed to get out as there were another two loud *CRACKS* in the room that made them jump. Harry turned around to see two grinning red heads covered in head to toe in what seemed like the skin of a poor purple animal that Harry was quite sure would have been quite disappointed to have given its life to be used in such a remarkable fashion statement. The purple outfits the twins were wearing clashed rather badly with the color of their hair. 

"Harry! It's great to see you old chap how've you been?" said Fred Weasley beaming at him.   
  


"Well I'm fine now since I'm here with you guys again Fred, rather than at Privet Drive. I see business is going good for the both of you," he added, choosing not to comment on the fashion statement the twins were making.

"Well Harry, I thought we would tell you in person that Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes has become probably THE most popular shop in the whole of Diagon Alley. It seems that we've had more students come into the shop than Madam Malkin has to buy Hogwart's robes! It's all thanks to you Harry. All this would not have been possible without your part in the investment," said George Weasley also beaming down at Harry. 

"I'm glad to er….have been of help, but er……," his eyes glanced to Mrs.Weasley, since she had not known about the galleons that Harry had given the twins until the day of the twins now infamous flight to freedom last year at school. He had not been told about what Mrs.Weasley thought about his part in the twin's opening of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. 

"Oh, don't worry 'bout mum Harry," said George when he noticed Harry and bent down so that his voice was not heard by the entire table, "We bought mum some stuff that she fancied down at Diagon Alley to help out with the household, you know like a new self-spelling dishwasher, a few new robes and some other stuff. We also offered to buy Ron and Ginny's school stuff this year so she's kinda settled into the idea that we're doing well with the joke shop. She's also glad that there are no more of our inventions lying around the house," he added with a grin. Harry could see that Mrs.Weasley was smiling at him, although she did not say anything he felt that he knew now that Mrs.Weasley was in no way mad at him for what he did for the twins and he felt a sudden wave of relief washing over him. The last person in the world he would want to upset was Mrs.Weasley.

A sudden "Ahem," that sounded a lot like Professor Umbridge's sounded across the table and the former Hogwarts students, (as well as the current ones) jumped a little and turned around to see that it was Ginny clearing her throat. 

"You were in the middle of telling us about your O.W.Ls Harry," she went on mischievously. 

"Yeah Harry, don't try and worm yourself out of telling us how you did. It couldn't have been that bad," said Ron, yet again through a mouthful of potato.

"I got 11 O.W.Ls Ron," he replied with an almost casual voice. 

Ron dropped his spoon bellowed in a near unbelieving tone, "I DON'T BLOODY BELIEVE IT! YOU BLOODY GIT! HOW IN THE WORLD DID YOU DO THAT?!" as he slapped Harry on the shoulder, making Harry wince, but smiling nevertheless at his friend's feigned rage. 

"Ron, watch your language," piped Mrs.Weasley as she smacked him over the head, "Those are very good results Harry, I'm very proud of you. Congratulations," she said beaming at Harry.

"I knew you had it in you Harry, congratulations you did really well," beamed Hermione. 

"Yeah, congratulations Harry," said Ginny grinning at him. 

"Well I have to say Harry, that the results you achieved were excellent, considering the circumstances. You actually beat James and Sirius by one O.W.L. Not to say they couldn't have done better, but Padfoot and Prongs only bothered with subjects, well in their words were interesting enough for them to pursue," said Lupin with a soft smile. 

"Well I was quite shocked when I saw the grades myself. I didn't really expect to get through all those with what was going on the whole year, or with Umbridge breathing down my neck the whole year, I just wish……," he trailed off when he realized that everyone was looking at him, "Well, I just wish Sirius was here, you know, so I could know what he thought about my grades and all.." he continued with a slightly croaking voice. 

There was a short silence around the table before Lupin spoke again, "Harry, I know for a fact that Padfoot, and Prongs, would have been very proud of you. As would Lily," said Lupin, looking straight into Harry's eyes. 

"I don't know it's just, well, it feels like something's missing I guess," he went without lifting his head and he suddenly realized he shouldn't be talking about all this when he should be happy to be with his friends again. Somehow he felt like he had spoilt the mood at the table for his "reunion" and all of a sudden he somehow did not feel very hungry anymore so he stood up slowly, "I er….think I'm going to unpack my stuff now, thanks for dinner Mrs.Weasley," and he left the table as politely and quickly as he could before anyone could say anything. 

Walking up stairs and through the old corridor of Grimmauld Place, Harry started to remember the time when Sirius talked about his family, telling him of how much he liked going over to his father's place during summer and how much he hated being at his old house again. Harry reached his room and sat down on his bed, opened his chest and took out the knife that Sirius had given him for Christmas during his 4th year at Hogwarts. He smiled when he thought of Sirius telling him to stay out of trouble during that time, when he himself had come into Hogwarts while he was still a wanted man by the Ministry of Magic. Harry closed his eyes and imagined his godfather's face when they talked about his father, and what he had saw in Snape's Pensieve, the smile on Sirius's face as they talked about the old times his father and Sirius used to have. He could feel the inside of his eyes starting to burn when there was a gentle knock on the door. "Harry?" came the voice as the door opened. He opened his eyes and quickly wiped them with his sleeve and looked up to see Ron, Hermione and Ginny coming into the room. 

  
"Harry, we know you miss Sirius, and we know we can't possibly understand how you feel right now, but maybe you might want to just talk about how you feel, or just let out your feelings so you'll feel better," said Hermione, looking at him straight in the eye. 

"She's right mate, no use keeping it all inside, we're here so you can take it out on us. We've had enough practice last year already," said Ron half-jokingly. 

"Ron! This isn't a time to joke, I don't think Harry's in the mood to joke right now. Besides, Harry, we'll always be there for you if you ever need any of us," said Ginny earnestly. 

Harry looked at his two best friends, and then to Ginny. He felt like there was so much he wanted to tell them, yet he just couldn't find the words to express himself, like he couldn't express himself when he tried to write letters to them. All he could manage was telling them, "Thanks you guys, I really appreciate it, you will never know how much you mean to me, ever," and after Harry had finished saying that he found himself in the center of a group hug, which, to him, felt a little weird and awkward, but surprisingly soothing in a way. 

After what seemed like a very long moment, the four of them broke out of the embrace when the second "ahem" sounded for the night. The four of them turned around to see Remus Lupin standing at the door, looking rather weary. He looked at the four of them and mildly smiled as he could probably guess what had been going on in the moments before he had appeared at the door to the room. 

"Harry, there are a few things I feel I should talk to you about, seeing as I'm the last Marauder alive," said the werewolf. 

  
Harry could swear that Lupin's voice broke slightly as he mentioned the fact that he was the only remaining Marauder, but he knew that Lupin was there to talk about Sirius and for once, he felt like he had no objections to hear out what his former professor had to say. He nodded slowly as Hermione and Ginny dragged Ron out of the room who was quite confused as to why he was being brought out of the room. He was still pining,

 "Why can't we listen to what….OW! What did you do that for Hermione! OW! GINNY!" Harry could still hear Ginny and Hermione telling Ron off as they walked down the corridor, 

"Sometimes Ron, I really wonder how insensitive you can get!" he heard Hermione say as the sounds died down the hallway. Lupin then sat down next to Harry. 

"Harry…," he started. He seemed to be thinking slightly about what he was about to say when he continued, "Harry I know that it has been difficult for you to lose Sirius. He was probably the closest thing to a father and a brother you have ever known. I know that you probably have already heard this, but Sirius would not have wanted you to mourn his death and forget to live your own life. Harry I was with Sirius before he went to save you that night, despite our requests that he did not go along with us, I still remember his last words, **I will be damned if I am going to sit here and not do anything when my godson is in danger like that, he was willing to risk his life for me when he thought I was in danger and I will not sit idly by and let him fight Voldemort alone, even if it means my own death! I'm not worth it." Lupin had said this last part with such a sad voice that Harry knew his former professor was hurting almost as badly as he was with the death of one of his best friends. When he thought about it, he and Lupin now shared something in their lives that would create a kind of bond between them, Harry had lost his parents, and his godfather to Voldemort, and Lupin had lost the only friends he ever had as a child, his best friends to Voldemort. Harry tried to imagine what he would feel like if he lost Ron or Hermione, or even the twins or Ginny. He felt as though he could relate to Lupin's feelings as much as he could relate to his own. **

Still, there was the nagging fact in Harry's head which he voiced out, "Still, Prof- I mean Remus, I still can't help feeling that it was my fault, that I allowed myself to be tricked by Voldemort. If only…..," he said with a croaky voice before he was cut off.

"Harry, I'm sure that Dumbledore has mentioned this before, but older and wiser wizards have been hoodwinked by Voldemort before. I know you don't want to hear this, but you can't take the blame for what happened to Sirius, as I know, for a fact, he wouldn't have blamed you, or would have wanted you to blame yourself. We all have a part to play in the plan's failure," 

Lupin had said this again with such sincerity that Harry found it hard to argue with him. He just nodded his head silently and let a tear trickle down his cheek before he took off his glasses to wipe it off. 

"I think you should get some sleep Harry, there are some things that we will have to discuss tomorrow, if you feel up to it," said Lupin as he put his hand on Harry's shoulder. 

Harry nodded and Lupin left the room, closing the door behind him. Harry suddenly felt very tired and thought it would be best if he took Lupin's advice and he changed into his nightclothes. He lay down on the bed and thought of what Lupin had just told him, and he could not help but feel his eyes burn again. This time however he fought back the tears as he knew he had to go on, and that there were still things that had to be done as long as Voldemort was still out there. "How does Remus know about the plan as well?" he thought just before he went to sleep, shrugging off the question. He did not even hear Ron's footsteps entering the room as he had already fallen fast asleep by the time. 

Authors Note: I know that technically Remus is not the last Marauder alive, but I don't think anyone will object to that fact seeing as how Peter would not really work well into the conversation with Harry. Hope I wrote this part okay. Thanks for the reviews, if any come at all. 


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and characters related to it. Harry Potter and its characters are the intellectual property of the talented J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Scholastic, Raincoast and Bloomsbury books. Storyline and plot have been developed partially based on the plots, characters and storylines of the first 5 installments of Harry Potter, The Sorceror's Stone, The Chamber of Secrets, The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Goblet of Fire and The Order of the Phoenix. 

Chapter 4

Harry woke up rather late the next morning. He looked to see that Ron's bed was empty and he figured that he had already gone down for breakfast. He got dressed and went down to the kitchen to see Ron, Hermione and Ginny already at the kitchen table. Ron and Hermione seemed to be in an animated argument over house elves again. 

"It's not like I'd ever expect YOU to understand what it means to work all day without getting paid. All YOU ever do is reap the benefits of what others do for you!" Hermione had said all this in quite a heated tone of voice only to be countered by Ron,

"Well it's not like we haven't told you a million times that all the S.P.E.W business is not going to help house-elves! Even Hagrid told you years ago that house elves ENJOY work. To set them free is to do them unkindness!" came Ron's reply in an equally heated voice.

The both of them had seemed to not notice Harry as he sat down next to Ginny, not wanting to disrupt the flames that were being tossed at the kitchen table. "Oh, morning Harry," greeted Ginny softly so as not to disrupt the flow of her older brother and her bushy haired friend's argument. 

Harry took a look at Ron and Hermione, shook his head silently, and turned his attention back to Ginny, "Morning Ginny," he replied and continued, "How long have the both of them been at it? Nevermind I don't want to know," as he helped himself to some toast and eggs. "Where's Mrs.Weasley by the way?" he asked as he tried to strike up a conversation with the youngest Weasley. 

"Oh, mum said she had to do some things for the Order, she wouldn't say what though. She did say that she trusts we are all old enough to fend for ourselves for the rest of the day. She'll be back to make dinner. Oh, she left you a note too Harry," said Ginny, handing Harry the note. Obviously, she had already read the note as she looked as though she couldn't wait to ask him something. Harry took the note and read it quickly,

_Harry,_

_            Remus left early this morning. He did ask me to tell you that you will be joining tonight's meeting of the Order. Also, I think there's another boggart in one of the cupboards upstairs, the room on the second floor, third from the right. Just thought I would tell you so that you don't go wandering into that room.                                                                                                                                                         Mrs.Weasley._

Harry folded the note and put it into his pocket as Ron and Hermione finally seemed to notice that he was at the kitchen table. "Oh good morning Harry sorry we didn't notice you came down, Ron and I were…," said Hermione before Harry cut her off, 

"It's okay Hermione I think I know what Ron and you were doing, I could hear it pretty clearly from over here," and Ginny suddenly burst into a fit of giggles which surprised Harry.

"And what's so funny Ginny?" asked Ron as he attacked the food yet again.

"Oh well, it's nothing…..do you know why you're joining tonight's Order meeting Harry?" said Ginny hastily trying to change the subject.

  
"I'm not too sure Ginny, but it's nice that they are going to let me in the meetings, seeing that I'm ……," he stopped. He was about to mention the prophecy that he had been told about in Dumbledore's office the previous year when he realized that he hadn't told his friends about the prophecy yet. 

"That you're what, Harry?" asked Hermione curiously.

"Well, it's like this you see…," and with that Harry continued to tell them about the contents of the prophecy that he had heard in Dumbledore's office the previous year. When he had finished, his friends could only stare at him wide-mouthed. "Harry, does this mean what I think it means?" asked Hermione in a subtle tone. 

Harry could see that Hermione looked very worried but he answered her in a steady voice, "Yes Hermione, that means that in order to defeat Voldemort I will have to face him at one point or another, and………..kill him," he had answered that in a steadier voice than he had intended, maybe subconsciously he didn't want them to think that this was causing him as much trouble emotionally as it already was.

"But Harry, you can't face him, I know you've escaped from him a few times already but how are you going to know if you can defeat him in a real fight?" said Hermione again as Ron and Ginny nodded in agreement with her statement. 

  
"Well, I guess this means I'll just have to wait to see what the Order has to tell me tonight, until then, I can't tell you any more about it myself because I don't know." "Anyway," he tried to change the subject to something more light hearted, "Mrs.Weasley mentioned that there happened to be a boggart in one of the rooms upstairs, I was thinking, maybe we can try practicing the Patronus Charm, since we didn't really get down to a practical lesson last year during the DA meetings," he said. The DA had been discovered the previous year right after the meeting that Harry had taught them how to produce a Patronus. 

"Harry! That'll be excellent, but er……I'm not too sure if I'm up to it though, I wasn't able to produce a real one last year, just wisps of smoke," went Ron who seemed excited at the prospect but nevertheless not too confident considering he couldn't conjure a real patronus. 

"I think it'll be a great idea Harry. We can finally see if we can take on a Dementor, but we're not allowed to do magic during the holidays, how are we supposed to manage any practice?" said Hermione who also sounded excited but slightly nervous as well. 

  
Harry smiled and looked at the last DA member present in the room, "What about you Ginny? Fancy a try with the patronus charm?" he said and for the first time that morning he noticed how incredible Ginny looked as she turned her head towards him, sweeping her chin length fringe aside. 

Smiling at him she replied, "I'd love to try Harry, but er….I'm not too sure if I can…you know……face a Dementor," she said sounding a little anxious. 

"Don't worry about it Ginny, at least you didn't collapse when we ran into that Dementor the last time. If I can make it I'm sure the three of you won't have any problems," he said trying to give her reassurance that he believed they could do it. 

"Wow, coming from you Harry that's really encouraging," she replied with a smile. "So when are we going to try that out?" she asked as she looked at Ron, Harry and Hermione. 

"Er…….well Hermione did mention that we can't do magic outside of school yet. I suppose we'll have to wait until I talk to the Order members tonight. Maybe we can try and work something out. I just wanted to make sure you guys were feeling up to it before I asked the adults. Maybe we can get Prof- I mean Remus to help out. After all, he was the one who taught me how to conjure a Patronus in the first place," said Harry as he felt that he had something to look forward to. He did wonder however, whether they would be allowed to perform magic, but he decided that he would save that curiosity for later. 

"Well okay, but I really wonder if we'll be allowed to do magic outside of school. Wonder what our excuse will be?" said Ginny. 

"Well I don't know, but I think maybe the ministry might be forgiving this time, seeing how they owe you a huge favor after what happened last year Harry," said Hermione smiling at him. 

Harry grinned at this comment as they continued the rest of the afternoon talking about anything and everything that had happened in the past few weeks. Apparently, Percy had been too ashamed to face his family after the way that he had treated them the previous year. Percy had written a long and sincere letter to his family, which had included profuse apologies to Harry, about his behavior and how he would have to work hard to atone for his mistakes and his treatment of his own flesh and blood. Ron mentioned that Percy had resigned from the ministry, but no one had any idea about what he was currently doing. It appears that he had mentioned in his letter that he was thinking about getting a job at the Daily Prophet, to try and bring about some changes to the way that the wizarding world received their news. Kreacher, the house-elf was no longer bound to the black manor, but after the events of the previous year, Dumbledore had instructed that the house-elf be taken away to a place where he could be looked after and be watched, so that he didn't expose the secrets of the Order to any of Sirius's distant relations. Harry knew that this was wise of Dumbledore since Kreacher had been serving 2 masters the previous year and was bound to go to the Malfoys after the death of Sirius which broke him from his bond to the family. The _Quibbler_ it seems became rather popular with the wizard community after showcasing the interview with Harry the previous year. The magazine became even more popular after the Ministry of Magic acknowledged their mistakes and cover ups and people started to become more interested in what the gossip magazine had to offer. Ginny mentioned that Luna Lovegood's father was very impressed with Harry really wanted to meet him. Harry could only smile at this. He really wondered if Loony Lovegood's father emitted the same aura of dottiness as his daughter. He imagined a full grown man wearing a necklace of butterbeer bottlecaps and he snorted his tea into his cup. 

The rest of the day passed fairly uneventfully, as there wasn't much to do around the house. Ron and Harry had played a few games of wizard's chess, which Ron won of course, and the four of them had enjoyed a few rounds of exploding snap. It wasn't long before Mrs.Weasley apparated back at Grimmauld Place along with Bill Weasley. 

"Harry, good to see you, how have you been?" asked the long haired man as he extended his hand to Harry. 

"I'm fine Bill, it's nice to see you too," Harry replied as Mrs.Weasley set off to prepare dinner. 

"Good, good, so I hear that you'll be joining us for tonight's meeting. Quite a few people will be present at tonight's meeting. Charlie's going to be apparating in later. Moody, Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Dung, Remus and dad will be here tonight as well. I'm not sure who else will be here tonight, but they say that Snape and McGonagall will be here tonight as well," said Bill as he gave Harry a brief rundown on the people that will be present that night. 

Harry did not like the bit about Snape being there at all. The potions master was his least favorite person in the world and he was not looking forward to seeing the greasy haired professor again. Harry excused himself and he went upstairs to his room. He felt that he could use a little privacy before he prepared himself to face whatever he was to be told at tonight's meeting.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and characters related to it. Harry Potter and its characters are the intellectual property of the talented J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Scholastic, Raincoast and Bloomsbury books. Storyline and plot have been developed partially based on the plots, characters and storylines of the first 5 installments of Harry Potter, The Sorceror's Stone, The Chamber of Secrets, The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Goblet of Fire and The Order of the Phoenix. 

Authors Note: I'm pretty much making up some stuff in this chapter based on logic and (hopefully) some creativity. I'm not too sure if it bodes too well but like I said in the story description I'm only trying a weak emulation of Miss Rowling's work. Thanks a lot for the comments. Appreciate it. 

Chapter 5

Later that night, Harry found himself in the midst of what seemed like a gathering of the members of the Order of the Phoenix. The kitchen table at Grimmauld place seemed very much fuller than he could ever remember it. The entire Weasley clan (minus Percy) were present for dinner, so were several figures that he recognised from his last visit to the place. Among these figures were Nymphadora Tonks, a metamorphmagus who was pursuing her usual habit of changing her appearance at the dinner table. On this particular day, Tonks seemed to have decided that she would try out a long, bushy brown haired look, same as Hermione's. Harry could swear that this was a girl-thing, as the previous year Tonks had changed her hair colour to tomato red once, making her look a lot like Ginny's elder sister. Further down the kitchen table, Harry could see the intimidating figure of Kingsley Shacklbolt, an Auror, who was in a discussion with Charlie and Bill Weasley which Harry could not quite make out but had distinctly managed to make out a few words which involved foreign wizards. On the other side of the table, Mundugus Fletcher was entertaining Fred, George and Ron yet again with some finer aspects of his past "business dealings", much to Mrs.Weasley's disgust but Harry had a feeling that Mrs.Weasley was no longer as critical or strict with the twins, seeing as how they were now qualified wizards. Harry still felt though that the twins were not in favour of incurring their mother's wrath although they were already adult wizards. Remus Lupin and Mr.Weasley were on the far end of the table, seemingly talking about the werewolf population, and where their support would lie with the return of Voldemort. 

"I don't know Arthur, it seems that things might not look good in getting the support of the werewolf population. Voldemort could offer them a lot more than what they already have now. The past laws enacted by the ministry have affected them greatly, and many of them may not have much to lose by joining forces with Voldemort," said Lupin with a slightly bitter tone. 

"I see your point Remus, but not all people who are werewolves are likely to join forces with …..You-Know-Who, I'm sure there are individuals like you within the werewolf population," said Mr.Weasley.

"Well I'm not entirely sure Arthur, it may be difficult for us to find those that will support us, after all, werewolves are not exactly in the habit of admitting their…..condition to the outside world, too much prejudice. With Voldemort back, I'm not sure the ministry is doing a good job in trying to keep their support, and I can say there aren't many in favour of the current ministry and their laws regarding werewolves. I should know," he replied.

Dinner seemed to pass quickly enough and the dinner table was cleared and Mrs.Weasley had brought out some tea for the members at the table. Slowly, other members of the Order started appearing. Some of them had apparated into Grimmauld Place, others deciding to come through the front door. Before long, Harry could see faces that he had seen before appearing within the ranks of the order, among them were some wizards that were his guard when he left Pivet Drive the previous summer. Dedalus Diggle, an excitable little wizard squeaked when he saw Harry and shook his hand profusely when he met him. Hestia Jones smiled and waved at Harry when she appeared at Headquarters, and Mad-eye Moody, the grizzled old ex-Auror who had been impersonated by a Death Eater and became Harry's professor at school during his fourth year appeared in his usual manner, looking on his guard at all times, his magical eye swirling around. Soon, the kitchen seemed to be bustling with Order members all over the place and they decided to move out into the hall so that they could all get enough space. Harry had never really seen a more curiously mixed group of witches and wizards before. Some of the Order members looked like they were formidable fighters, a small group of them that Harry thought were most probably Aurors were talking to Kingsley Shacklebolt and Tonks. Others looked very much like some of his professors at Hogwarts and quite a few of them, Harry had sworn he had seen at the Three Broomsticks a few times when he visited Hogsmeade. Ron, Hermione and even Ginny had been allowed by Mrs.Weasley to attend the meeting after much protest and arguing. Mr.Weasley had successfully convinced his wife that the three of them were already involved with the Order whether they liked it or not. Mrs.Weasley had been very reluctant to let Ginny stay for the meeting but Mr.Weasley (as well as Bill, Charlie and even Harry) had mentioned that Ginny was old enough and had matured enough to understand and accept what was going on in the Order, after the previous year's events. Suddenly, something occurred to Harry that he decided to ask Lupin about.

"Er…Remus," Harry said as politely as he could, interrupting Lupin's conversation with Bill Weasley. Lupin turned and looked at Harry inquisitively. Harry continued, "I was wondering, is Professor Dumbledore going to be here today?" 

Lupin smiled at Harry, "No Harry, I'm afraid Albus has some….."preparations" of his own to make. He has already conveyed his instructions to Minerva," he said gesturing to the figure of Professor McGonogall who was sitting near the window of the living hall in a discussion with Emmeline Vance. Harry nodded and wondered what kind of preparations Lupin was talking about, a few moments later though, Harry's attention was caught when he heard someone else apparating into headquarters. Harry turned around and was very surprised to see who it was that had just entered the room. 

"Krum!" said Harry in a rather louder tone than he had anticipated. It was indeed Viktor Krum who was accompanied by 2 other Wizards whom had distinctly looked Bulgarian. Harry was of course, using the features of the Bulgarian Quidditch players as a basis for this thought. "Harry! It is good to see you avter so long," said surly looking Bulgarian who had very thick eyebrows. Viktor didn't look like he had changed much since Harry had last saw him, he noticed though that Krum's eyes had heavy eye bags, similar to the ones Lupin wore on an almost constant basis. 

"It's good to see you too Viktor. I didn't know you were in the Order," replied Harry who was still quite surprised to see his former Tri-Wizard opponent at the secret meeting. 

"Vell,.." Viktor started to explain, "I met Charlie Veasley 3 months ago vhen ve vere in Romania for a vew training matches. Ve met quite a number of times over that time and I vos talking about some Dark activities in our homeland and how Durmstrang vos being run after Karkaroff left. Charlie thought I could be trusted avter a vhile and he told me about the Order. These two are my friends, Olahov and Dimitri," he said gesturing to his two companions. "Olahov has some contacts in the Bulgarian Ministry ov Magic and Dimitri is a friend of my family's. He vorks in the Bulgarian Defence Department, very much like your Aurors," he said as he explained about his companions to Harry. Soon though, Viktor caught sight of Hermione and went over to talk to her and Harry was left still feeling rather surprised. He had wanted to ask Charlie Weasley more about Viktor and his companions when Lupin decided to get things going with the meeting. 

"Can I have everyone's attention please, we should get this meeting started. Will everyone please be seated," he beckoned as there chairs were summoned by the wizards and witches present and everyone took their seats.

"Thank you. As you all should know there are certain aspects in today's meeting that we will have to cover, mainly in regards to Dark activities in our own country and of course whatever our foreign contacts have to share with us," said Remus. "So far it seems that Vold-…" the room shuddered uncomfortably, "…-emort, has decided to keep his activities low-key since it is well known that he has returned. However, this does not mean that he has not been carrying out any plans or activities. We have reason to believe that he has been rallying his former supporters in secret and we have already received disturbing information that some of his supporters actually hold ranking positions in the ministry itself. Severus, if you care to enlighten the members," he beckoned to Snape as Snape stepped forward to face the members gathered there. 

Harry had avoided his Professor as soon as he arrived at headquarters. Harry could tell that Snape was distinctly doing the same. The both of them had avoided eye-contact and had even resorted to staying at opposite ends of the room during that short period of time between Snape's arrival and the start of the meeting. Harry could feel the agitation building up inside as he looked at the Potions master but he fought to keep control of his feelings as he knew that if anyone had a clue as to what Voldemort was up to, Snape would be able to provide information about it. He didn't like having to rely on Snape, but he didn't have much choice. He sat down and listened as attentively as he could as he heard Snape go on about the supporters Voldemort had rallied in the past, and that high ranking officials that were his supporters remained relatively unknown to most of the Death Eaters. Snape had never once gone into the details of how he had obtained the information, and Harry could only guess how Snape had managed to obtain all the information he had. 

"The Dark Lord had large numbers of Dark creatures at his disposal in the past. We know that he has already made contact with the Giants and it is safe to say he would, by now, have managed to convince a good number of them to join his side. It is highly likely that he will try to rally foreign forces to support him as well. This does not mean that he is merely looking for foreign witches and wizards to join his cause. It is also likely that he will try to get some of the native creatures in those foreign lands to join him as well. If he is successful, the Dark Lord will have a formidable army at his disposal to try and take over the wizarding world. Currently, it is believed that he is keeping his movements and activities as quiet as possible so as not to give authorities a clue as to his whereabouts or plans. It is also likely that the ministry is facing some "insider" influences that are loyal to the Dark Lord. It is likely however, that he plans to free his Death Eaters that were captured last year at the Ministry of Magic sometime soon. The exact timing of this plan is of yet unknown to us, but it will be revealed soon," he said in his usual oily voice. 

Remus thanked Snape for his information and then continued, "We have been able to get the support of a few foreign contacts," gesturing towards Viktor Krum and his companions. "Our foreign allies that are here tonight have informed us that there have been odd sightings of dark creatures moving towards the north. Our other allies have also confirmed this movement and it seems that they area all heading in the same direction, towards the North of Great Britain. However, it would seem that our foreign agents who had been sent to investigate the area have not returned. We can only assume that they were killed or captured by Voldemort and his agents. As of right now, we are trying to work on a way to get a glimpse into the area that the dark creatures seem to be rallying to, is an entire island which lies towards the North of Britain and the area seems to be engulfed in a magical barrier, preventing us from pinpointing where exactly the creatures are heading. The island is not extremely large, however, there are other islands surrounding the area and it is difficult for us to pinpoint the exact location. Like I said, we are still working on a way to pinpoint the exact location. As for Severus's information regarding the attempt to rescue the Death Eaters currently in Azkaban, I am sure Kingsley has his instructions and will know what to do when the time comes. In the meantime, we all have our respective duties that Dumbledore has instructed us to do. One other point of this meeting concerns none other than, Harry Potter," he mentioned as he beckoned to Harry. "Dumbledore has already told the contents of the prophecy to those that do not already know it. It is likely that Voldemort is aware of Harry's importance to the Order, although he might not know it in detail. Dumbledore believes and knows that the time has come to help Harry prepare for the task that he must do," Remus had decided not to go into the details of the task and he continued, "Already, it has come to our attention that Voldemort has intentions towards Harry. We have received information that his agents have been eyeing Harry ever since he returned to his relations. This is one of the reasons why he has been brought out of the protection of his relations and to headquarters, so that we could keep an eye on him." 

Professor McGonogall then stood up and said, "Harry, Albus feels that you will have to be prepared to face the task ahead of you and thus, when you return to school, you will be trained in combat. Yes, I know that you have performed most impressively in the past, but Albus feels that we at Hogwarts will try our best to help you harness your true potential so that you might be ready for the task that is to come."

"Harry, Dumbledore knew that it would come to this at one point of time or rather. He said that he should have prepared you for this a long time ago but most of us, if not all of us agree that you were too young to have known what you were meant to do, and even now, you are still too young. But you have proven yourself time and again over the years and it is time for you to be all you can be," said Remus who was looking at him with a look that Harry had never seen before. It seemed mixed between respect and sadness. 

Harry was rather stunned by this new information although he did not feel surprised or anxious by the news that he was to be trained in combat. He was curious though about his true potential. He had always thought that his abilities were as good as he had, he wasn't sure if he had anything beyond what he had now. He wondered whether or not those present at the Order viewed him as a saviour, or someone that could deliver them from these dark times. He wasn't too sure that he was able to live with all this expectation and was about to voice out what he thought, but looked around the room to see that everyone was looking at him expectantly. He decided to back down from voicing his opinion and he simply said, "I will do what I must, but how am I supposed to be trained in combat?"

"You will be informed when you return to school, as per the request of the headmaster," answered Professor McGonogall. 

"Right, I think that concludes today's meeting thank you for coming," said Remus as the members around the room started to stir and leave one by one. 

Harry was about to go back to his room and perhaps talk with Ron and Hermione about the meeting when he saw Hermione talking animatedly to Viktor. It suddenly occurred to him that he forgot to ask about their Patronus training. He hurriedly went to Remus and stated his intentions for his friends. Remus did not seem surprised that Harry would ask him about using magic outside of school. 

"Ah yes Harry, I was wondering if you were going to use the boggart upstairs, let me introduce you to someone before she leaves," as he beckoned Harry to follow him as they went towards an old but sturdy looking witch who was standing at the end of the Hall, ready to leave but was talking to Sturgis Podmore who had been freed from Azkaban following the announcement of Voldemort's return and Dumbledore's backing that he had been working on his instructions. 

"Harry, I'd like you to meet Mafalda Hopkirk," Remus said with a smile. Harry felt that he should remember this old witch's name but he couldn't quite place it. Seeing the confusion on Harry's face Remus continued, "Mafalda works at the Improper use of Magic office." It suddenly hit Harry. This was the witch that signed his warning letter the previous year when he had conjured the Patronus. "Er..nice to meet you madam," he went. Remus then went on to explain Harry's request to Mafalda Hopkirk who looked at Harry inquisitively before replying with a surprisingly firm and strong voice for someone her age, "Well Harry, circumstances have changed since last year I suppose. I guess I could cover up for you if you and your friends decide to conduct abit of training over the summer. Just leave their names with Arthur and ask him to pass them to me when I see him at work, but remember, I am only giving you lenience to use magic at headquarters, no where else until you get back to school. Am I making myself perfectly clear?" 

Harry nodded in agreement as the old witch bade him and Remus a warm goodbye. Harry looked at Remus who said, "Mafalda has great respect for Dumbledore and you after last year's events. I think it changed her perspective about the ministry and she offered her services to Dumbledore a few months back. I think you've had quite a day Harry it's best you be off to bed. We'll see tomorrow about helping Ron, Hermione and Ginny with the Patronus. Although I trust your abilities I'd still feel better if a fully qualified wizard was around when you trained with a boggart." Harry could feel himself feeling like he was going to yawn and didn't argue with Remus about going to be. He bade his former Professor goodnight and went up to his room. When he got to the room he good see Ron was sitting on his bed, looking rather furious. He asked Ron what was wrong but Ron simply replied, "Nothing," and went to get changed so that he could get to bed. Harry himself felt fatigue taking over him and decided he would go to bed as well. He turned the lights off and settled down to bed and thought he distinctly heard Ron muttering something like, "What's with her and that damned Vicky." 

Author's note: I'm not too good with the Bulgarian accent and my geography isn't all that good either. Haven't done it since High school, so please forgive the mistakes I may have made in explaining the movement of the creatures and all. Thank you.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and characters related to it. Harry Potter and its characters are the intellectual property of the talented J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Scholastic, Raincoast, and Bloomsbury books. Storyline and plot have been developed partially based on the plots, characters, and storylines of the first 5 installments of Harry Potter, The Sorceror's Stone, The Chamber of Secrets, The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Goblet of Fire, and The Order of the Phoenix. 

Author's Note: First off, thank you for the comments and the words of encouragement. Lourdes, I appreciate your reviews and LHG I appreciate your comments but unfortunately I do not know where to find the guide to writing Harry Potter. I have not heard of it until now. If you would be kind enough to enlighten me I would appreciate it. Before I continue the chapter I would like to state:

a) I did try looking up some Bulgarian folklore but it seems I found a lot of vampire stories that bear great resemblance to Russian folklore on vampires. I did not go into specifics about dark creatures as I do not want to make up something which does not have a basis for me to create upon. I do know where Bulgaria is, since I am a soccer fan =). I do not however, know the approximate Geography of the country to be able to specify the exact movement of the creatures. I apologize if I made an error. 

b) I say that I am trying to emulate JKR in the introduction, what I meant is that I am merely trying to emulate her writing. I am not looking for my work to be published and I am writing this story mainly for fun but also to see if I can actually pull off writing a whole story and see if I can meet my own standards for writing a fanfic. 

c) I noticed that some comments *hem*hem* are against a Harry/Ginny pairing. Well I know that I categorized my story under Harry/Ginny but I will say now that I do not intend for them to undergo a full-fledged romance as of yet. However, I believe that Ginny's role in the 6th book will increase and therefore I plan to write as such.

Again, thank you for the comments and reviews. I appreciate them a lot, even the criticisms (as long as its criticisms on how I can improve the story or what is lacking from it). Lastly, I apologize for the slow moving plot, but like I said, I am merely doing this for fun and as a challenge. I hope I can pick it up soon. On another note, to those that find my writing interesting, I would recommend Harry Potter and the Forbidden Passage by Cendrillon; I believe that she (or he) has also written a very good and entertaining piece of work. 

Chapter 6

            It was a few days after attending the Order's meeting that Harry and his friends had finally been able to sit down with Remus Lupin to discuss their training with the boggart Dementor. Prior to that, Remus had been busy doing things for the Order which he had not cared to mention. Harry had asked his former professor about his doings for the Order, but it seemed like he had not cared to mention it much. He just said that it was the same as the previous year, trying to rally up support against Voldemort, and trying to prevent certain "parties" from going over to the Dark Lord's forces. Harry had been told in such a finalized tone by Remus that he knew he would not be able to get any more information regarding this issue. It seemed like Order members were always to be found at headquarters at all times since the meeting, which Harry believed were probably there for security reasons although he believed that there could not possibly be danger for him at the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Nevertheless, he understood the possibilities of danger were not to be ignored. After all, he had been attacked by Dementors the previous year at Privet Drive even under the (apparently) watchful eyes of Order members. It seemed that Bill and Charlie were around more frequently than the others, although Charlie had left the day before for France, which Harry believed was probably to recruit more foreign supporters for the Order. Tonks had also been around a couple of times, often chattering away with Hermione and Ginny, leaving Harry stranded with Ron. Not that he complained being with Ron, but he was getting quite sick of losing completely to Ron in wizards chess for the 6th year running. The twins sometimes took breaks from the shop at Diagon Alley to introduce new products to Harry, most of which he had been very reluctant to try. One particular "testing" session had turned Ron's nose so large that Harry believed, would have sank the Titanic if it had been in the ocean in place of the iceberg. 

"Crazy Conker Candy," George had proclaimed proudly. "Took us a few weeks to actually get the recipe correct for it, probably one of our best inventions," he had described as Ron was bellowing in an extra funny tone at the twins for the size of his nose. 

"Cheer up Ron, it'll go fine with the size of your feet," chuckled Fred.

It seemed like a normal mid morning when Harry had awaken for breakfast, and had joined Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Mr and Mrs.Weasley as well as Remus (who had taken up residence at Grimmauld Place, although he was only there for short spurts of time, being out on business for the Order). Harry had sat down at the kitchen table when Remus approached him, 

"Harry, I know that I've been busy with the Order lately, but I've managed to clear up some of the more pressing matters that I've had to deal with lately. If you like, I think we can start training Ron, Hermione and Ginny with the Patronus training today," said Lupin. 

Harry was quite elated by this prospect. He had enjoyed being in the company of his friends at headquarters, despite his reoccurring aches for Sirius. He had to admit though that his stay there had been turning rather stale of late, seeing as how they did not have much to do since the place had been pretty much decontaminated. "That will be great Remus!" He looked over at Ron, Hermione and Ginny to see that they were also quite excited by the news, but at the same time also looking mildly nervous. 

"So we're going to start training with a real Dementor today? I really hope I can manage it," said Ron. 

"No, Ron, it's only a boggart that we will train with, but I must warn you, the effects of a boggart Dementor on a person are very similar to that of a real Dementor. Harry can tell you that. The only reassurance is that the danger is not as high if we were to face a real Dementor. Boggart Dementors cannot perform "the Kiss", said Lupin reassuring Ron. 

"So when do we start?" asked Hermione. "After lunch if you are ready, Hermione. I will just have to get into Diagon Alley for a while to pick up some chocolate. I dare say that you will need it later," replied Lupin.

Later that day, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny had met with Remus in the room which contained the boggart. "Now, the boggart will turn into a Dementor when it sees Harry. This means that Harry will have to stand in front of the boggart at all times, while each of you goes in turns to try and conjure a patronus. I'm sure that you are familiar with the incantations?" asked Lupin. He was replied with silent nods and he smiled, "I'm glad to see that Harry has instructed you. Let's see now if you can manage the spell. Who would like to go first?" Hermione stepped forward. "Good Hermione. Now I am going to open the cupboard with the Dementor. Are you all ready? Good, one-two-three, NOW!" Lupin shouted as he pointed his wand at the cupboard door and there was a burst of smoke engulfing the space in front of the cupboard. Harry could feel the temperature drop dramatically as he saw the hooded figure of the Dementor slowly gliding towards him. 

"EX-EX-expecto Patronum!, Expecto Patronum!, Expecto Patronum!" screamed Hermione as the Dementor slowly glided towards them and Harry, all she could manage to produce though were silvery wisps of smoke that slowed the Dementor, but did not stop it. 

  
"NO! No! Expecto Patronum!" screamed Hermione in vain. Harry sensed that Hermione could not manage any longer and he had lifted his wand to cast the spell himself, but something he had not expected happened. He could suddenly see the final moments that he had spent with Sirius, and he watched as Sirius's face, mixed with shock and still smiling slowly disappear behind the curtains at the Department of Mysteries. 

"No," he said, "NooooOo!" Remus had noticed this and was about to get rid of the boggart himself when suddenly, Harry bellowed, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" and out of his wand came the silvery stag, and it charged down the Dementor furiously. 

"Riddikulus!" shouted Remus charging forward and the boggart turned into the silvery orb yet again. Remus forced the boggart back into the cupboard and turned around to look at his 4 former students. He didn't quite know what to believe. He had seen Harry's Patronus before, but never before had it ever been quite the way it was. Harry had conjured a Patronus, which in Remus's own mind could only find the words, magnificent. It no longer was the silvery-white Patronus that he was accustomed to seeing, but it was much larger than normal, and the stag shone bright silver, with what had seemed to Remus as a gold aura, outlining it. It took quite a bit for Remus to compose himself after what he saw to check on the 4 students to see how they were. 

Harry was standing at the same spot that he was when the Dementor first appeared. He had lowered his wand and was sweating and shivering, a shine was visible in his eyes, yet it was full of strength and determination. "I-I- saw it again Remus, the Department of Mysteries…., Sirius," he said looking at Remus. Remus was appalled by this, but nevertheless comforted Harry, 

"It's over Harry, it's in the past now, it's over," he said as he handed a piece of chocolate to Harry who took it gratefully as he turned to check on his friends. 

Ron was sitting down in a corner, still shivering, but looked fine according to Harry as Remus handed a piece of chocolate to the redhead. Hermione however, was close to tears, "Oh, Harry, I'm sorry, I thought I could do it but it was so cold, so scary, I-I couldn't think of something happy, I didn't think it would be that difficult," she said to Harry as the tears started to flow down her cheeks. Harry felt that Hermione was not only suffering from the depressing effects of the Dementor, but the prospect of failure to perform was affecting her greatly as well. 

"Shhh, don't worry Hermione, don't worry about it. Very few people get it on the first try. It took me a few tries to even produce an indistinct Patronus, and you managed to keep it away for quite a while, you don't have to be disappointed. Here, eat some of the chocolate, it helps a lot. We'll try again when you're feeling up to it," he said as he handed Hermione a piece of chocolate. Silently, Harry was not too keen on seeing what he had just saw again, but he did not show or mention it as he didn't want to distress Hermione with more than what she was already going through. Hermione remained silent as she bit the piece of chocolate slowly as Harry turned to look at Ginny. 

Ginny seemed to be doing the worst amongst the three of them, she was still shivering violently and was sobbing when Harry approached her. Harry thought that the Ginny he was seeing now was a very different Ginny who had insisted on following him to the Ministry of Magic last year. Last year, Ginny had looked determined and strong when she volunteered, instead now, she reminded him of the little girl in the Chamber of Secrets, she was very pale and her face was colourless. 

"Ha-Harry, i-i-it was h-h-horrible, oh Harry," she stammered as she sank into her own arms again, not daring to look up. 

"It's alright Ginny, it's alright," he said trying to comfort her, he wasn't too sure of what to do but instinctively stroked her head as he said that. "It's over Ginny and it was just a boggart Dementor. At least you didn't faint like I used to do," he still wasn't too sure of what to say to Ginny as she seemed to be in the worst position of all of them present there. He handed her a piece of the chocolate and stroked her hair silently. She took the chocolate and ate it and Harry could tell that the colour had started to return to her cheeks as she ate the chocolate silently.

The four of them sat there silently for a while before Remus spoke, "I think maybe you're all not too ready to face the Dementor just yet…," he was cut off by Harry, 

"Remus, if you remember I had the same problems when we first started my lessons against the Dementor, I'm sure they can do it. They just need a little time." 

Hermione was next to speak up, "Harry, prof-I mean Remus is right, maybe we're not quite ready yet. I think we need some time to prepare ourselves to face this. It's quite a challenge. I understand now what you meant when you told us last year it's very different from conjuring a Patronus in a brightly lit classroom with lots of people around you." She had said this with such a disappointed tone that Harry didn't hear very often from Hermione. She was not used to not being able to perform when then time called for it. 

"Yeah Harry, I think you better help me out with my Patronus before I take that on, I don't think I'll be able to do any better than Hermione since I didn't manage to even conjure a real Patronus when there wasn't a Dementor around. Maybe we should go back to basics again," said Ron who was still a little shaken but was speaking steadily. 

Harry looked at his friends, looked down at Ginny, who looked up and nodded in agreement with Ron. Harry sighed and said, "Yeah I think that would be best, I'm sorry you guys I didn't mean to put you through all that."

"It's okay Harry, I'm not sure we expected it to be that difficult either," said Ron as he helped Ginny on her feet. "I think Remus will have to help us out as well, having two teachers is better than having one, not to say you were a bad teacher Harry, but I think we need all the help we can get, that is, if it's okay with you Harry, and Remus," 

Harry looked at Remus who simply nodded saying, "I'll be glad to help you out with it Ron. But I think all of you will need some rest before Molly gets back from her shopping. I think she'll have my head if she finds out what we have been up to," he smiled lightly. 

As they were leaving the room to get some rest, Remus Lupin finally felt that he understood why Dumbledore had so much faith in Harry Potter. He indeed was the boy in the prophecy, and he had the potential to become far greater a wizard than he had every imagined. What bothered him though was what had set Harry off like that, and what was it that caused him to conjure a Patronus that was safe to say, was the first of its kind that he had ever seen, and if he would be able to fully harness that ability when the time came. However, he was certain that Albus Dumbledore would know the answer to his question, and that he would see to it that Harry was able to face the challenge when the time came. He only hoped that Harry was as strong as everyone believed he was. 


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and characters related to it. Harry Potter and its characters are the intellectual property of the talented J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Scholastic, Raincoast and Bloomsbury books. Storyline and plot have been developed partially based on the plots, characters and storylines of the first 5 installments of Harry Potter, The Sorceror's Stone, The Chamber of Secrets, The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Goblet of Fire and The Order of the Phoenix

Author's Note: I am in agreement with some other Fan Fiction writers that Neville Longbottom will have a greater role in the coming books. I hope I can think of something to increase his role in my own story, although I do not believe that J.K. Rowling will write something as predictable as a Neville/Luna Lovegood pairing. Still, I might be wrong. One of the other Fan Fiction authors also suggested a Harry/Fang or Harry/Fluffy pairing. I am utterly disappointed by his/her choice. I always thought Harry/ The Giant Squid was the most obvious pairing. How could you not see the chemistry between them?? Anyway, I believe that J.K. Rowling is still having us guessing at whether the couples (if she decides to add more romance into the novels) will turn out between Harry/Hermione and Harry/Ginny. Personally I'm rooting for Harry/Ginny but I won't be too surprised if it turns out to be Harry/Hermione. I will however be disappointed if Miss Rowling pairs Harry and Fluffy together. Again, on to the story.

Chapter 7

            After the episode with the boggart Dementor, Harry and Remus had been taking turns in training Ron, Hermione and Ginny in producing their Patronuses. Hermione had already been able to produce one the last year and was constantly helping the other two with the basic concepts and theories behind casting the spell (much to Ron's dismay as he listened to Hermione lecture on about the concept of producing a Patronus based on the positive energies of a human mind to counter the negative energies of a dementor). "She can be as bad as Professor Binns sometimes," he whispered to Harry during one of their training sessions. 

Harry was actually quite surprised at the effort that they were showing after their first session with the boggart Dementor. Even Ron, whose mind normally wandered every now and then, was almost always in perfect concentration every time they had trained. Once or twice, Ron had already managed to produce a corporeal Patronus, which took the form of a huge Lion. 

"I DID IT HARRY, I DID IT!" Harry could remember the words of excitement being shouted by his best friend when, for the first time, he had managed to conjure the Patronus. 

Ginny on the other hand, had been more successful than her brother but seemed very reluctant to have another attempt at the Dementor. She had produced a stallion Patronus on a few occasions, but during some of the training sessions, Harry had noticed that Ginny remained very distant, and sometimes looked depressed. 

"Wow, conjuring the Patronus really takes the juice out of your body," lamented Ron after one particular training session where he had managed to produce his Patronus. 

"Yeah, it can really take the energy out of you sometimes, but if you do it often enough you can get used to it Ron," said Harry as he sat down on the floor next to Ron. 

Just then, Remus opened the door to the room in which they had been training holding a few letters. "Just came from Hogwarts," he said as he handed the letters around to his former students. "Oh, it's about time they arrived, the letters also came quite late last year," said Hermione as she looked at her letter. 

Harry opened his letter and began to read it,

_Mr. Potter,_

_            Due to the nature of your O.W.L results, I am pleased to inform you that you are qualified to take the following classes for your N.E.W.T.s in the upcoming term. You are to select only four of the listed subjects. Please be reminded that you should choose your subjects wisely in accordance with what you have been advised during the careers week last year. Your selection of N.E.W.T.s will have a great impact on your chosen future career. The choices available to you are the following:_

_Expert Charms, N.E.W.T standard_

_Expert Transfiguration, N.E.W.T standard_

_Expert Potions, N.E.W.T standard_

_Expert Care of Magical Creatures, N.E.W.T standard_

_Expert Defense against the Dark Arts, N.E.W.T standard_

_Expert Herbology, N.E.W.T standard_

_Please be advised that you are to make your decision before the start of term and inform your head of house via Owl post. Books for all N.E.W.T level subjects will be available to students at the beginning of the term and payment for the books will be charged accordingly. Thank you._

_                                                                        Professor M.McGonogall_

_                                                                        Deputy Headmistress._

Harry was actually pondering on the fact that he had been allowed to take Potions for his N.E.W.Ts when he had been told that Professor Snape only accepted outstanding students into his classes when he noticed that he had another letter attached to his official one. 

_Mr.Potter__,_

_            I am sure that you are curious as to why you have been accepted into N.E.W.T level potions when I informed you of Professor Snape's selectiveness towards students taking his class for that level. If you remember the events of last year, I personally took it upon myself to ensure that your future as an Auror will become a reality. Nevertheless, I was able to "persuade" Professor Snape into accepting you into his Potions class (which he was not too keen on doing mind you, so I hope that you do not give him any excuses to fail you for your N.E.W.Ts). Before you start the upcoming term, the headmaster and I request that you meet us after the start of term feast so as to discuss some other "extra" classes that you will be attending. I hope that you will perform well in your chosen N.E.W.Ts so as to live up to the expectations that is seen in a student of your potential. _

_                                                                        Professor M.McGonogall_

Harry had remembered Professor McGonogall's conviction the previous year when she defied Professor Umbridge to tell Harry that he will be an Auror even if it meant that she had to train him day and night. He was already sure of the 5 subjects that he would be choosing for his next school term, although his stomach churned when he thought of the prospect of having to face Snape again for his final 2 years at Hogwarts. On the other hand, Harry wondered who was to be his Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this year. Clearly, no one teacher had ever lasted more than a year since Harry's arrival at Hogwarts. 

"I'm not too sure what I want to do for N.E.W.Ts really, I've got so many choices, N.E.W.T level Arithmancy could be very useful in the future, I've read about many careers that require Arithmancy as one of the areas you should be familiar with, but then again I might choose to do Ancient Runes if I plan to pursue a career in magical development. I've read that……," that was Hermione chatting away with Ginny as to what her choices for her N.E.W.Ts would be. Hermione had qualified to take all the N.E.W.T classes. 

"Come off it Hermione, you can do anything you want is it really that hard to choose from? You're the first student in over 100 years to get 14 O.W.L.S, and the last person to do that was Dumbledore himself!" cried Ron. "I've got mine chosen already, I'm going to do Care of Magical Creatures, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Transfiguration. Never thought I'd be allowed to do N.E.W.T level transfiguration seeing as how I failed the written exam. Maybe Professor McGonogall's cutting us a bit of a break. At least we won't have to do potions anymore eh, Harry?" said Ron after looking at his own official paper.

Harry only stared at Ron with a blank look, "You don't mean to tell me……Harry, after all we've been through in potions for the past 5 years don't tell me you still want to take lessons from Snape? You've got to be mental, are you sure you're not sick or something?" said Ron in utter disbelief. 

Harry replied, "Professor McGonogall told me that I should take potions if I wanted to choose a career as an Auror. I guess that means I'll have to do potions anyway, looks like it's another year of fun and games in Snape's dungeon."

Hermione and Ginny also looked a little shocked by Harry's decision but Hermione said, "Well Harry, I'll be taking potions too for my N.E.W.Ts, they say that knowing potions gives you a lot of options in your future. I'm surprised though that you are allowed to take the classes, I heard Professor Snape only allows the very best into his potions class," she looked a little flustered after saying that and hastily added, "That's not to say you're not good Harry but, well, you know what I mean."

Harry grinned and replied, "Yeah Hermione I know what you mean, I was quite surprised that Snape let me take his class too. But I think Professor McGonogall must have convinced him or something. Personally I'm not looking forward to seeing his dungeon again. It will be nice to have you around though, I think I could surely use help in those classes," as he put away his letters. "Well, looks like for the first time we won't be in all the same classes Harry," said Ron who looked a little disappointed. "Still, I can't say that I'm disappointed, I mean, I don't have to put up with Snape anymore," he said with a big wide smile that made Harry want to smack him across the face. 

"C'mon it's time for dinner, I hear Molly calling us downstairs," said Remus as he beckoned them to leave the room. "Harry, can you wait one moment I want to talk to you about something," he motioned to Harry to stay in the room. "Harry, this letter just came for you, I've got one too," he said as he handed Harry another envelope. This time, Harry noticed that it had a Gringotts seal on it. He wondered what it could be when he opened the letter and read it,

_Mr. Potter,_

_            It is my solemn duty to inform you that you have been named one of the beneficiaries in the will of the late Mr. Sirius Black. Your presence is required at Gringotts Wizard Bank, Diagon Alley, at __11 a.m._ tomorrow for the reading of Mr.Black's last testament. Thank you for your co-operation.__

_                                                                                    Orlic the Surly,_

_                                                                                    Keeper of final testaments._

Harry was a loss as to how to feel. Sensing this, Remus put his hand on Harry's shoulder and said, "I'll be going with you tomorrow Harry, I also got one of those letters. Arthur and Molly as well as Tonks will also be present. I think Sirius made his will during his time at headquarters just in case something was to happen to him. He knew that if he had not made the will that the beneficiaries of his death would be Narcissa and Bellatrix, neither of which he wanted to see inherit any of his property." Harry clenched his teeth and fists and the mention of Bellatrix's name, he had never hated anyone more in his life, not even Voldemort. He had every feeling inside him that he would do every unimaginable thing to Bellatrix if he ever got his hands on her. He swore that he would avenge Sirius's death no matter what. Harry allowed himself to calm down a little before he and Remus joined the rest of them for dinner. He did not have much to say during dinner and he was not really in a mood to talk, nor was he hungry. 

Before he retired that night, Ron approached Harry, "Hey mate, you look kinda down. Is something up?" Ron had said this with such a sincere and caring look in his eyes that Harry felt he had to tell Ron. "It's nothing Ron, I just got a letter saying that I have to attend the reading of Sirius's last testament, that I was named one of the beneficiaries in his will." 

"Oh," said Ron who was trying to find the words to say, "Well, er, well, it's better that you were to get anything he had to leave behind rather than his relatives now would it?" 

"Yeah," said Harry. "I guess so, I've got to go to bed Ron, I've got to be up early tomorrow to go to Diagon Alley, will you guys want to come along, I mean, you can't really follow me into the reading, but I'm sure that you can find something else to do until we're done, it can't take that long?" he added looking at Ron. 

"Yeah sure mate, could use some time out of this place." Ron said sleepily as they turned out the lights. 

The next morning, Harry woke up feeling much worse than he had anticipated. He could barely get himself out of bed to go down to the kitchen for some breakfast. When he got to the kitchen, he could see that his friends were already present there, along with Remus and Mr. and Mrs.Weasley. 

"Feeling alright Harry?" asked Mr.Weasley kindly. 

"Fine," Harry muttered in reply. He did not really look forward to what he was going to do today. 

"We'll leave after you finish breakfast Harry. We'll leave by floo powder," said Mrs.Weasley gently. Harry nodded in reply. He had the distinct feeling that everyone seemed nicer to him today of all days but it didn't necessarily make him feel any better. After a rather light breakfast, the Weasley's, Remus, Harry and Hermione took their turns in front of the fireplace and when it reached Harry's turn, he said the words, "Diagon Alley," clearly and then ext thing he knew he had come out the fireplace at the Leaky Cauldron. Under normal circumstances Harry would have been surprised that this was the exit out of the network to Diagon Alley, since he had never traveled to Diagon Alley by floo powder (and made it to the destination he had intended). Today however, Harry's heart seemed to sink with every footstep they took towards Gringotts. 

"Ron and Hermione, please look out for Ginny while we're at Gringotts. We'll meet up with you at Florean Fortescue's in an hour, okay?" instructed Mrs.Weasley as they stood at the entrance to the bank. Tonks had already arrived earlier and was waving to them. Harry realized that her hair was black today, which probably was a sign of respect for what was to transpire on that day. Together, they walked into the bank to meet a old looking goblin at the front counter. 

The goblin nodded as they mentioned the reasons for their being there and directed them down the hall to a part of the bank which Harry had never seen before. They reached an office door which had the words _Wills and Final testaments _plated in gold on the top of the door. They proceeded through the door to meet the goblin sitting at one of the desks in the room, the name _Orlic__ the Surly displayed at the front of the desk. _

"Ah, the beneficiaries of the late Mr.Black, if you will just wait one moment while I retrieve Mr.Black's final testament," he said as he opened one of the drawers beside his desk. "Now, shall we proceed?" he asked as he unfolded a parchment which Harry noticed, was sealed with the Black family emblem. Orlic touched the parchment with his fingers and the parchment began to glow with a faded blue light, and a mellow voice came out of the parchment, 

_I Sirius Black, now name the beneficiaries to my will and final testament. Should there be events that are out of my control which render me dead, or invalid, the individuals I now name will receive inheritance that is in my own name as well as my family's name. _

_To my niece, Nymphadora Tonks and her mother Andromeda Tonks, the both of you were the only close relatives that I have respected and come to treat as family. To the both of you I leave the Black family Silverware as well as the Black family jewelry that I have sorted out and personally deemed "safe and acceptable". _

_To my cousins Arthur and Molly Weasley, you are both good people and I am very fortunate to have met you. Molly and I may have had our disagreements in the past, but I know how much Harry means to you family, and how you feel about him, therefore I hereby declare Arthur and Molly Weasley the legal guardians to my godson Harry Potter until he is of legal age should I meet my demise or am incapacitated. All and every expense that is related to the upbringing of Harry Potter before he reaches legal adult age should be borne by the gold from my own personal vault. _

_To my friend Remus J.Lupin a.k.a Messr Moony, I apologize that I must leave you as the last Marauder, but I am proud to have had you as a friend, and I will never ever forget the times we had together, and I will always treasure our friendship. I now leave to you the possessions that I had owned before my incarceration as a criminal. The possessions are in my personal vault. _

_To my godson, Harry Potter, I apologize that I could not look out for you the way that James and Lily would have wanted me to. Our time together has not been as long as I would have liked. Should anything ever happen to me, you are not to think that you are responsible in any way. I hope that you will continue to live your life and not let my death be an obstacle in your life. Know that, regardless of what happens, I am very proud of you as your godfather, and I say this for your late parents as well when I say that they would have been extremely proud of their son. I leave to Harry Potter the Black Manor to do with as he sees fit. Legally, Mr.Harry Potter is not of age to receive the property as an inheritance. The owner of the Black Manor shall therefore be Remus J.Lupin, until which time Harry Potter comes of age and the property shall be jointly owned by both of these individuals, to do with as they see fit. _

_Finally, the remaining gold in my personal vault, as well as the remaining gold in the Black family vault, vault number 412 is to be divided equally amongst the beneficiaries which I have named, Nymphadora and Andromeda Tonks, Arthur and Molly Weasley, Remus J.Lupin and Harry Potter. Before I close my statement, I would also like to add that the black box in my personal vault is to be given to my godson, Harry Potter. _

_This is the final will and testament of Sirius Black. Aside from the four beneficiaries named in this testament, no other person or people can lay claim to the Black family property or my own personal property. This will is to be the only legal will that I have left. _

After the final words were spoken, the glow surrounding the parchment died down and Harry Potter just stood where he was, having just heard the final testament of his late godfather. Mrs.Weasley was in tears, but she was not sobbing, she merely turned to Harry and embraced him, "You are part of the family now, bless him. I'm so sorry I ever thought he was irresponsible," she said tearfully as she looked at Harry. Harry returned the embrace and tried very hard to hold back the tears that were now forming in his eyes. He had always thought of the Weasleys as his family in a way, he was happy that he now had a family to call his own, but at the same time, he still felt empty as his family was missing one important member. They were interrupted by Orlic, "Now, will you please follow my colleague down to the vaults to collect your inheritance," he said solemnly. The people present there nodded silently and followed another goblin down to the vaults. 

They arrived at vault number 412 and the goblin that had brought them there opened up the vault. They were visibly stunned by what they saw. The vault was filled with what could only be described as a mountain of gold coins. It was more gold than even Harry had in his vault when he first laid eyes on the money his parents had left him. The goblin said casually over the shoulders of the people gathered in front of the vault, "Divided equally into the vaults of Nymphadora and Andromeda Tonks," he waved his hand, looking down at a parchment he was holding and part of the gold vanished, "Arthur and Molly Weasley, Remus J.Lupin and Harry Potter," as he repeated the waves until the vault lay empty. They then followed the goblin to Sirius's personal vault. The vault was filled with a moderate amount of gold and the things that had taken up more space in the vault seemed to be boxes of all sizes. "Would the recipients of these items prefer them to be transferred into their vaults? Or would they like to examine them now?" asked the goblin. Remus looked at Harry for a moment then said, "We wish to examine the contents of these boxes more personally, could you arrange for them to be sent to the residence of Arthur and Molly Weasley, we shall retrieve them ourselves." The goblin simply nodded and waved his hand yet again as the contents of the vault cleared. 

The five of them left Gringotts with mixed emotions. Tonks bade them goodbye silently, saying that she had to go and see her mother, as well as return to work. She said that she would join them for dinner that night. Mr. and Mrs.Weasley were lost for words, they had inherited more gold than they could ever have expected in their lifetimes. They merely mentioned that they should meet up with the children and they made their way to meet Ron and the girls. Harry Potter simply nodded and followed them, he had not said much on that very day, and he didn't feel like he could talk just yet. He just wanted some time to take in all that has happened to him in the past few months.

Note: I think another author used the idea of silverware in the will for his/her story. I apologize if I am offending by using that idea as well if I am offending the author that used that idea first please notify me and I will change that bit of the story. It just seemed….appropriate. =)


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and characters related to it. Harry Potter and its characters are the intellectual property of the talented J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Scholastic, Raincoast and Bloomsbury books. Storyline and plot have been developed partially based on the plots, characters and storylines of the first 5 installments of Harry Potter, The Sorceror's Stone, The Chamber of Secrets, The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Goblet of Fire and The Order of the Phoenix

Author's Note: Thank you for the reviews. I don't seem to get a lot of them but it's not that I'm troubled by that fact. =) I'd finish this story by hook or by crook even if I'm the only person reviewing my work =Þ, but I really appreciate the reviews regardless. I thank every person that has reviewed my work so far.  Anyway, thank you for pointing out that it is Privet Drive. I always thought it was Pivet. Seems like there was actually something I did miss when I read the books. Not the first mistake I've made but I do appreciate the nitpicking. Helps me know where I've gone wrong and I can correct mistakes if necessary. If anyone notices anything else please mention it. On another note, thanks to the info from some reviewers I have managed to stumble upon a site which contains information about Mythical beasts and creatures. I think I will be able to cook something up in the next few chapters about magical creatures (dark creatures). Hopefully my creative "cooking" when it comes to writing is nowhere near as bad as my real cooking. One other note I think I should mention. I know that some people might think that Remus should become the legal guardian for Harry, I have to admit that I thought that is a very good idea, if not the most likely or practical thing that should happen. However, as I think I will explain in the next few chapters, I have a very strong gut feeling that Remus Lupin will not become Harry's legal guardian in the next books. Again, I might be wrong (which chances are I am, I'm not psychic after all). Okay enough riff-raff on to the story. 

Chapter 8

            When Harry returned to Grimmauld Place that day, he felt as though the aching inside of him suddenly felt even more pronounced than he had felt previously. He might have received the ownership of the Black Manor, but in his heart he didn't know if he could fully bring himself to live in this place and be totally comfortable with it. Still, he was a little heartened to know that he had a real place to call home, instead of Privet Drive. Remus was also very quiet after the reading of Sirius's final testament. He hardly said a word during dinner, and shortly after dinner he had retired to his room. Harry felt as though he should talk to Remus, but he didn't know what he would say to him. After all, his former professor had always seemed as by far the wisest of the Marauders, the most practical, and the best in providing advice. Nevertheless, the rest of the family tried to cheer Harry up after the reading. Ron was especially supportive when he learnt that his parents were now Harry's legal guardians. When he had heard the news from his parents, he clasped Harry's hand and engaged Harry in the "brotherly" clap on the back welcoming him to the family. The twins especially played a part in trying to cheer Harry up, they were going on and on about catching up on the lost years of pranks they would have to play on Harry before they could welcome him properly into the family. Bill was not at headquarters for dinner that night. He had left on a mission for the Order almost as soon as they returned from Diagon Alley. He stayed long enough to welcome Harry into the family and left for his respective duty. Overall, Harry felt like this was a day of very mixed emotions for him. He was really happy to have a family of his own, and not just any family, it was his favourite family in the world. He still couldn't help thinking about Sirius's last statement though. Deep down inside, he still found it hard to truly forgive himself for Sirius's death and he tried very hard not to show this so as not to disrupt the mood at the dinner table.

            Later that night, after conversations with Ron, Hermione and Ginny, they were shuffled off to bed by Mrs.Weasley. Harry did not complain when they were sent off to bed. He was feeling particularly tired after the day and looked forward to hopefully, having a good night's sleep. After lying down on his bed for a short while, and Ron's snores started to drone, Harry's mind drifted off to sleep. His hopes for a good night's sleep it seemed, was not to be. Soon after he had fallen asleep, Harry could see himself in the Department of Mysteries again, 

_Bellatrix__ Lestrange was standing in front of him, the room was filled with the sounds __of malicious laughter echoing through the hallways. Harry reached for his wand, his heart burning with hatred and vengeance. He screamed the words for the killing curse and aimed his wand at Bellatrix, who vanished as soon as the beam of green light touched her. Harry heard the laughter coming from behind him and spun around. As soon as he did, he was met with a sight that made his heart crumble into pieces, as he saw Sirius lying on the ground, wide eyed and expressionless. "NO!" he said, shocked, as he turned away, only to be met with a sight that shattered his resolve, and destroyed his nerve completely. Lying on the floor were the bodies of Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Mr and Mrs. Weasley, Remus, the twins, Bill and Charlie. Harry's mind screamed in agony. "THIS IS A DREAM, IT'S NOT REAL, IT'S NOT REAL!" the screams went in his mind as he was met face to face with Bellatrix Lestrange and Voldemort. The malicious laughter continued, and Voldemort spoke, "This is what awaits your friends Potter. They will end up like your godfather and your parents. You cannot save them, nor can you save yourself," as he raised his wand and pointed it at Harry. Harry was now blinded by a great wave of emotion, hate, anger, despair. He looked up at Voldemort only to see a flashing green light. "NOOO!" he shouted as he put his hands up in front of him. _

Harry jolted awake. His entire body was shaking and cold sweat was pouring down his brow. "It was just a dream, just a dream, just a dream…..," his thoughts echoed in his head. To Harry though, the dream had seemed so real and his greatest fear since the death of his godfather had been realised in that dream. He was going to lead his best friends, and every person he had ever cared for, or had cared for him to their deaths. Not able to close his eyes again for fear of further nightmares, Harry got out of bed slowly, opening the door to the room carefully so as not to wake Ron and carefully walked down the stairs to the kitchen. He got himself a glass of water as he sat down on the kitchen table, burying his head into his hands, trying to shake the images out of his head. His eyes drifted to the black box lying at the corner of the kitchen. It had been brought over by Mr.Weasley after the goblins at Gringotts transferred Sirius's possessions that were intended for Remus and Harry to the burrow. Slowly, Harry put the box on the kitchen table and opened it to view its contents. There was a note in the box, and it was written in Sirius's writing.

_Harry,_

_            Some of these belonged to your parents. I had wanted to give these to you since your fourth year in Hogwarts, but I was not in a position to retrieve it from Gringotts seeing as how I am labelled as a wanted criminal. I would have asked Remus to retrieve it, but I'm afraid that I could not have risked the world knowing that Remus was associated with me. I just wrote this note and sent it to the bank, asking them to put it into this box. Should you ever come in possession of this box, only two things could have happened. One, Peter has been found and I am free and we are both looking at this note right now, or two, something has happened to me and you are receiving this as part of my final testament. _

_            If I'm not with you, I'm sorry that I can't be with you when you see all this. I hope you like them. _

_                                                                                    Sirius_

Harry viewed the contents of the box. It contained numerous items that had definitely once, belonged to his parents. In a small box contained two plain gold rings, engraved inside them were the words _James Potter_ and _Lily Potter. There was another elegant brown rectangle box, which contained his parent's wands, kept there together. There were albums that contained pictures of his parent's wedding. Pictures he had never seen before. There were also other pictures, pictures of his parents and Sirius, cradling him as a child, pictures of the Marauders together on his parent's wedding day, pictures taken of his mother when she was asleep on the couch, pictures of his father trying to comb his hair in front of the mirror. _

Harry was trying to take all of this in. In front of him were the possessions that belonged to his parents and his godfather, now taken away from him by the most powerful dark wizard the world had ever known. Surprisingly, Harry had expected to feel sad, or had expected to have a sense of longing for his parents and his godfather. However, what Harry could feel inside now was a resolve beyond anything he had ever felt before. He had never felt this burning sensation in his heart before, a fire that lit his senses ablaze, that gave him such determination that he had never before felt. He knew why he had to endure these feelings, the reasons for his life being the way it is, and there was only one reason for it. Voldemort. Harry now understood why he was the one in the prophecy, and why his life would have to end in murder, either of himself, or committed by his hand. He knew he would never forgive Voldemort, that he would never let anything like this ever happen to anyone else that he loved. He could still feel the grief within his heart, but he knew he had to shut it out, to concentrate on what he must do. Slowly and silently, he placed his parent's belongings into the black box and put it away. 

Harry was about to return to his room when he noticed footsteps approaching the kitchen. He wondered who it could be at this hour of the night, and he waited in the kitchen to see who it was. Ginny Weasley appeared in the kitchen, looking slightly pale and had sweat on her brow. 

"Oh, I didn't think anyone would be awake at hour," she said softly as she reached for a glass of water. 

"I was just…………….I had a nightmare, couldn't go back to sleep," said Harry as Ginny sat down on the chair next to him. 

"I……had one too. I've been having nightmares ever since we fought the boggart Dementor," said Ginny. 

Harry looked at Ginny. He had never seen her this way in the past 2 years. She looked visibly shaken and very much like the timid girl he remembered back in his second year, and not the strong and resolved girl that followed him into the Department of Mysteries. "Care to talk about it? It helps when you talk about it, I should know," said Harry as comfortingly as he could. 

Ginny looked back at the boy that she had always admired since her first year, the boy that had saved her life before. "It's just…., I've been dreaming lately, of my first year. I see things you know, when I'm around the Dementors. Things that I never knew I did, things I never thought I had seen before, you know, down in the chamber. It keeps coming back to me, what I did that year, the attacks, the basilisk, Riddle. Every time the Dementors are around, or when I'm in those nightmares, I can see what I'm doing but I can't stop it. I try to stop myself but I just go on, I can't stop myself. I just….., I just feel so afraid every time I see those memories, when I think what I could have done to those people, what the basilisk could have done if you didn't stop it Harry," she said 

Harry just sat there looking at Ginny. He had forgotten that Ginny Weasley had also faced Lord Voldemort before. Even though it was no where near the extent that he had faced Voldemort himself, she of all people knew what Voldemort was capable of. 

Harry just put his hand on her shoulder and said, "Ginny, I know that you feel responsible in some way for what happened that year, but you can't blame yourself for it. Voldemort can manipulate even the strongest of wizards and you can't blame yourself for getting influenced by him, I should know. We stopped him that year and nobody was hurt. It's all in the past now. I'm just sorry you didn't tell me this sooner. I would never have suggested that we try to take on the boggart Dementor."

Ginny Weasley looked up at Harry. She was quite surprised herself that she had opened up to Harry that way when she had never mentioned her dreams to anyone else. She was about to say something else when a sudden realization hit her. 

"Oh Harry, I'm sorry. My dreams must be trivial compared to what you have been through. All this is not your fault. Nothing is. You've already been through so much Harry. I can't imagine what it's like for you. I can't imagine what it would be like to lose one of my brothers," she said as she looked into his emerald green eyes, knowing that Harry must have had nightmares about Sirius. "Not even Percy," she added. 

For a moment, the both of them merely sat there, their eyes fixed in one another. Harry saw the look in Ginny's eyes transform from the scared little girl just a moment ago to the look of understanding, of kindness and compassion. They looked into each other's eyes for what seemed like an eternity before Harry looked away and said to Ginny, 

"I just don't want to see anyone hurt again because of me Ginny. I can't bear to lose anyone else. Now that your family is as good as my own, I can't help but feel that I'm putting all of you in danger." 

"Harry, we are all in danger as long as …..You…V-v-voldemort is out there. No one is safe. Mum and Dad, Bill and Charlie knew the risks when they became part of the Order. The rest of us know the risks too, but we would not, for a second turn our backs on you. You know that as well as we do, we will all get through this together," she said as she placed her hand on his. 

Harry just let the moment pass them by. He was actually quite stunned that Ginny had said Voldemort's name. A bit of Hermione must be rubbing off onto Ginny. Or maybe his own bravado he thought. He looked at Ginny again and said, 

"Thanks Ginny. Who would have thought you'd be one to give good advice," as he grinned lightly. "I guess you're right. We will all have to face what's coming. I'm glad I've got all of you by my side for all of this. It sure makes things easier to deal with," he added before he looked up at the clock that hung on the wall of the kitchen. "I think we'd better get back to bed and try to get some sleep. It's getting really late already. Thanks a lot Ginny," Harry said as he got up. 

Ginny also stood up, "No problem Harry. That's what friends are for. Besides, I'm just repaying the favour," she said smiling. 

The both of them returned to their respective bedrooms. Harry lay awake for a while, trying not to think of the dream he had just experienced. He was reluctant to tell Ginny that at the end of all of this, he would have to face Voldemort alone. He wanted to face Voldemort alone. Despite what Ginny had said to comfort him, he knew that the time would come, and what he had to do, he would have to do alone.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and characters related to it. Harry Potter and its characters are the intellectual property of the talented J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Scholastic, Raincoast and Bloomsbury books. Storyline and plot have been developed partially based on the plots, characters and storylines of the first 5 installments of Harry Potter, The Sorceror's Stone, The Chamber of Secrets, The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Goblet of Fire and The Order of the Phoenix. 

Author's Note: While skimming through my earlier chapters I realized I made some grammatical errors in some of the chapters. I will correct them as soon as possible to set an example for the proper usage of English to the boys and girls out there. =Þ. I also decided not to write about Harry's birthday if anyone is wondering why there is no mention of that. Was never really good at describing a birthday party, after all, the only 16 year old birthday parties I remember involve a lot of alcohol, which I doubt would be available to Harry. Anyway, I also thought I should make a point that I feel that since J.K.Rowling seems to be writing the book in the perspective of a growing boy, Harry should have matured more after the events of his 5th year, thus being the way he is in my story. Sweet sixteen is after all sweet sixteen. One other thing, I also realised that I have not written much about Hedwig and Pig, since they seemed to be mentioned in all the books at one point of time or rather. Sorry bout that as well, I'm not too good with the pet thing but I'll try and keep it in mind when I write later chapters.

Chapter 9

            The rest of the summer passed by rather uneventfully for Harry and Co. Soon after the reading of Sirius's will, Remus was called away on matters for the Order, thus leaving the 4 DA members unable to continue practices with the boggart Dementor. Harry was more than willing to assume the responsibility by himself but Mrs.Weasley forbade them to train with the Dementor. She had been willing to allow them to train with a fully trained wizard watching over them, but she was concerned with allowing them to face a Dementor by themselves. Before Remus left, he had told Harry to keep in contact with him when he returned to Hogwarts, and that he will always be there to listen if he faced any problems. He also told Harry to be wary of anything that was going on at Hogwarts, as well as to be careful when he went into Hogsmeade, as no where was safe at this point of time. Harry had chosen not to argue with Mrs.Weasley over the issue of the Dementor as he felt she did have a point and also because the start of term was approaching. Before they knew it, it was time to return to Hogwarts for the start of a new term at school. On their last night at Grimmauld Place, Mrs. Weasley had cooked a marvellous dinner, and the entire Weasley family (minus Bill, Charlie and Percy) sat down to a wonderful dinner. Fred and George were constantly reminding their brother to keep up the family spirit at Hogwarts and play his fair share of pranks in his 6th year, adding that they would be more than willing to supply him with the necessary "tools" to pull off the pranks. Mrs.Weasley was not approving of this behaviour and proceeded in telling the twins off for setting a bad example for their siblings. 

            The morning came when Harry would finally be returning to Hogwarts. He actually was not too sure of what to expect in this year at Hogwarts. He had packed his belongings the night before and had proceeded to have breakfast early that morning. It seemed that the usual Weasley chaos when it came to leaving for the start of term was no longer apparent, seeing as how they were all at Grimmauld Place and not the Burrow, with more space to move about. There was also the fact that Ron and Ginny were the only two returning to Hogwarts this year. Mr.Weasley had managed to borrow a ministry car again this time around and the four of them, along with Mr. and Mrs.Weasley drove down to Kings Cross and got on to platform 9 and 3/4. As they got on the platform to board the train, Harry could see his fellow Gryffindors and other Hogwarts students that he had got to know the previous year. Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas called out to him when they saw him, and he had received nods and friendly gestures from Hannah Abbot, Susan Bones, Terry Boot and other DA members as he walked on the platform. From a distance, he also noticed Cho Chang boarding the train. She also seemed to notice him and smiled at him, which Harry returned and thought that she looked a little nervous when she did that. The time came to board the train and the 4 of them were hugged by Mrs.Weasley and were reminded to behave themselves at school and not get involved in any dangerous activities. 

            After they had boarded the train, Ron and Hermione went to join the prefects in their compartment as Harry and Ginny set off to find a compartment. They found Neville sitting in one of the compartments alone and they joined him as they did the previous year. "Hey Harry, hey Ginny, Wow Ginny! Your hair looks great!" said Neville as the both of them sat down in the compartment with him. "Hey Neville," said Harry returning Neville's greeting. Neville seemed to have changed during the summer. He no longer carried a bumbling presence like he had used to, on the contrary, Neville seemed to have lost a little weight over the summer, and the look of confidence on his face was very apparent, which was not surprising seeing as how he had handled himself during last year's events. "How was your summer?" Harry asked. 

"It was fine. Didn't do much over the summer, Gran seems to think that the outside world is getting dangerous. She wasn't too happy about what happened last year at school, but she didn't tell me off as badly as I had expected. In a way, I think she was quite proud of me," he said. 

They continued conversations over what they had done over the summer, and mentioned that they had tried out the Patronus charm with a boggart Dementor and meeting Viktor Krum during the Order meetings. Somehow, Harry felt much more comfortable with Neville than he had in the past. The last year's events had led to him to feel that Neville was much more trustworthy and loyal a friend than he had ever thought he was. They were going on about whether the DA would be continued that year when Ron and Hermione came into the compartment. 

"Really, I wonder why they bother gathering in the prefect's compartment anyway. It's not like they tell us anything new," said Ron as he opened a Chocolate Frog. 

"Ron, you know we have a duty as prefects…" Hermione said before she was interrupted by the opening of the compartment door. 

"Oh look…….the dream team has added another 2 members," said a slick voice. It was Draco Malfoy and his cronies, Crabbe and Goyle. "Not bad Potter, Mudbloods, Weasels, and now you've added Longbottom on your list. It's good you've got the Mudblood with you, seeing as how Longbottom is probably so slow you'll need to balance his brains out with the Mudblood, even then there's no guarantee that it will be in balance," he added as Crabbe and Goyle laughed beside him.

"Get out Malfoy. There are 5 of us here and we won't hesitate to curse you to hell and back," said Ron coolly. 

Malfoy seemed to suddenly realise that for once, he and his cronies were outnumbered, but he simply grinned, "Oh we'll leave Weasel. Don't want to be seen in the same compartment as this bunch. Remember my words Potter, you will get what's coming to you soon enough. You won't have someone to watch your back all the time," he said as he closed the compartment door and left before Ron stood up. 

Hermione simply put on a look of disgust but turned to Ron and said, "I'm impressed Ron. You didn't lose your temper like you normally do."

This was a matter of opinion though, Harry thought, since Ron's face was flaming red and his face could only show one emotion, pure hate. Ron however, composed himself a little and replied, "Well, he won't have such a good time at Hogwarts now since everyone knows what his father is, and what his family does. We'll see how he carries himself at school now that everyone knows his dad is a Death Eater, I still wonder how in the world Crabbe and Goyle are still going back to Hogwarts. How on earth did they manage to get through their O.W.Ls?!" 

The rest of the ride to Hogwarts passed by uneventfully enough, with a few games of exploding snap. Soon after, they had arrived at Hogwarts and Hagrid was there, waiting as usual to greet the first years as they came off the train. 

"Firs' years, Firs' years this way," he caught sight of Harry and put his gigantic hands on Harry's shoulder. "Hey Harry, doin' al' righ'?" he asked Harry. 

"Yeah Hagrid, I'm fine. It's great to see you again and it's great to be back," he said as they boarded the carriages, the Thestrals being ever more visible to Harry. 

The four of them made their way into the great hall, Harry of course, receiving the usual pointing fingers and whispered voices as he passed by the tables, making his way down the Gryffindor table. He sat down at the table and looked over to the teacher's table in front of the great hall. As usual, Professor Dumbledore sat there, with his long silver hair and beard talking to Professor McGonogall who nudged her head in Harry's direction as she noticed him looking over to them. Professor Dumbledore looked at Harry and smiled at him, a smile which Harry returned. Looking down the table, Harry saw Professor Snape, still looking as unpleasant as ever, and a few places from Professor Snape was someone Harry had not seen at the teacher's table before, but had an odd feeling that he should have seen his face before. He was a rather weird looking wizard to say the least. He was dressed in a really oddly coloured robe which seemed to change colours if you looked at it from a different angle. He also wore a hat similar to Professor Dumbledore's but the hat also seemed to change colour every time you looked at it from a different angle. He wore glasses as well and had a short, grizzled greyish beard which matched the colour of his hair, which was just above shoulder length. He had eyes which seemed to wander to every inch of the great hall and Harry seriously wondered if he was merely observing every aspect of the Great Hall, but it seemed that the man was in a permanent daze. Harry knew that this could only be the new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher, but he seriously wondered if this man was up to the job. He looked like a circus wizard more than a professor. Before Harry could voice his opinion to Ron and Hermione, the first years had lined up in front of the sorting Hat, which was placed on the stool in front of the Great Hall and as with every year, the hat started its song. 

(SONG)

The Great Hall was bursting with applause at the end of the Sorting Hat's new song as the first years were beginning to be sorted out. 

"Cartman, Eric," called Professor McGonogall as a pudgy boy sat down on the stool.

"_Slytherin_!"_ _

Harry turned to Ron and Hermione, telling them about what had seemed as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. "Yeah, he looks like a real nutter that one," said Ron. "Really wonder if he's the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor or if he's a replacement for Filch," he added as he looked over to the students being sorted.

"Skywalker, Luke,"

"_Ravenclaw_!"__

"Ron, you should know better than to judge people by their first appearances. Remus didn't really look like a good Defence professor when we met him in our third year, but he turned out to be the best one we've had," said Hermione as she clapped along with the rest of the hall as the last first year, "Vader, Darth" was made a Slytherin. 

Professor Dumbledore then stood up to make his usual start of term announcement. "Let the feast, begin," as the golden plates of the five tables were filled with the usual feast of excellent food. Harry, feeling particularly hungry began to fill his plate with steak and bacon. Ron attacked the food ferociously like a man possessed and was reprimanded by Hermione. 

"Ron, when will you ever stop stuffing your face with food every chance you get?" 

Ron had learned by now to swallow his food before he answered Hermione, "C'mon Hermione, I've only had a Chocolate Frog since the train, I'm starving," as he dove into another helping of chicken drumsticks. 

As per usual, Harry could not be bothered with the constant bickering of his two friends over dinner as he continued with his steak and bacon. Ginny however, giggling, asked Harry if he had to put up with their bickering every other day of the school term. "More or less so Ginny, more or less so," he said in reply as Ginny grinned and started on her own dinner. After they had all eaten as much as they could, the plates cleared themselves then filled themselves up again with the usual selection of various sweets, cakes and ice cream. After working through his 2nd helping of treacle tart, Harry felt well-fed and watered and was stretching to relax his absolutely full stomach when Professor Dumbledore stood up yet again to make another announcement.

"Welcome back, to another year at Hogwarts. I hope that all of you will find the time to enjoy the school term regardless of the recent happenings. I would like to make a few statements before we go off to bed. Firstly, the forbidden forest, is as usual, forbidden to all students," as his eyes flashed towards Harry, Ron and Hermione. "Secondly, I would like to welcome the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. Would you please kindly welcome our new professor, my very own brother, Professor Aberforth Dumbledore," he said as the hall burst into some mild clapping. Most of the students were really quite appalled by the sight of Professor Dumbledore's own brother, and most of them, Harry thought, must have been thinking alongside the lines of Harry, that the new professor did not remotely look like a Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. Dumbledore then continued his speech, "Due to the confusion that it would cause to have students referring to two Professor Dumbledores, my brother would prefer students to refer to him as Professor Abe, seeing as how Professor Dumb did not sound very suitable." He was chuckling mildly at this before he finished his speech by sending them off to bed. 

Harry told Ron, Hermione and Ginny that he would join them later as he remembered that he had to meet Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonogall after the feast. He climbed the by now familiar stairway to Professor Dumbledore's office and met by Professor McGonogall at the entrance to the office. 

"I'm glad that you remembered Mr.Potter, I was about to go to the Gryffindor tower to get you myself," as she turned around and said the password "Crazy Conker Candy," which Harry found very amusing, knowing that the product had been developed by Fred and George and wondered if Professor Dumbledore was unfortunate enough to have tried one himself. He stepped in to the office to see Professor Dumbledore stroking Fawkes lightly. 

"Ah Harry, it is good to see that you are well after the events of last year. I hope that you are ready for the new term?" he asked as Harry nodded in reply. 

"Good, good. As Professor McGonogall would have informed you, we believe that it is now essential for you to begin your training in combat. Classes have been arranged for you with reference to your schedule at school this year. Professor McGonogall, Professor Abe, Professor Flitwick and I will be instructing you in the various forms of magic that you will have to learn and accustom yourself with," he said to Harry in a very serious tone that Harry had never heard before. He simply nodded in response. 

"Harry, you must understand that the magic we will be teaching you is very advanced magic, so advanced that some of it are even unknown to Aurors. You must be prepared to train very hard to master these new aspects of magic," he said again to Harry. 

"Professor, I know what I have to do, and I have come to accept that it is what I must do, for myself and for everyone else. I'm sure that I can do it with all your help," he said in a firm voice. 

Professor Dumbledore simply smiled and his eyes twinkled with pride. "Very well Harry," he said. "I am glad to see that you are determined. On another note, if you feel that you are up to the challenge, you can resume your efforts with the DA if you wish to do so. You will also be happy to know that your ban on quidditch has been removed effectively and you will be allowed to join the Gryffindor team again," he added.

Harry simply smiled and nodded. "Well, if there is nothing else, I am sure you have had a long day and you will want to get to bed, off you go then Harry," said Professor Dumbledore as Harry bade the two Professors goodnight and proceeded back to the Gryffindor Tower. 

"It's going to be a busy year," he thought as he muttered the password to the portrait of the fat lady, stepping in to the common room to tell his friends who were sitting by the fire in the common room of what had just transpired in Dumbledore's office.

Author's Note: Yeah I know about the names and the song but I really couldn't think of anything. If anyone is feeling in the mood to create a sorting hat song, mail it to me and I'll put it in =). And I know that some of you are wondering why I'm using Dumbledore's brother in the story, well my justification for this is that the idea of Remus Lupin resuming the job appeals greatly to me. I really wanted to use him as the DADA teacher but I feel that using him makes my life easier in writing the story so I decided to try out something which I have yet to read in other fan fics. Hope no one has any objections. By the way, to the fans of Tonks and the twins, not to worry, I plan to use those characters in greater proportions later in the story. Oh yeah, Disclaimer: Eric Cartman is owned by South Park, Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader owned by LucasFilms and e.t.c. I was just using the names for some comic relief.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and characters related to it. Harry Potter and its characters are the intellectual property of the talented J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Scholastic, Raincoast and Bloomsbury books. Storyline and plot have been developed partially based on the plots, characters and storylines of the first 5 installments of Harry Potter, The Sorceror's Stone, The Chamber of Secrets, The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Goblet of Fire and The Order of the Phoenix. 

Author's Note: Thank you very much for the reviews and opinions. As with the beginning of all my chapters I'll just make a few statements:  
a) Thank you David for pointing out the errors that I committed. I have since made some changes to the earlier chapters. I didn't know Dumbledore was 150 years old. I have always wondered how old Dumbledore was and I never seem to be able to find out through any of the books. Just wondered where it is stated that he's that old. Not that I doubt your info. I'm just curious. As to the testament of Sirius, well, it is his last testament because he did have some things to say in his will, like who the guardians are and his feelings towards his relatives e.t.c. I think that qualifies as a final testament does it? One other thing, I wrote that they used floo powder to Diagon Alley based on the assumption that Harry still managed to talk to Sirius through the fire the previous year. They were not using the network for fear that they were being watched. I'm assuming that if you are able to talk to another party through the fire that it will be connected to the network. I just hope this is justification enough for my reasons in writing that particular aspect of the story.

b) To the review that it may be wrong or weird if Harry and Ginny were together if Arthur and Molly were his legal guardians, well, they are just his legal guardians and they are not blood related in any sense. I think that's okay or does anyone else think that fact hard to deal with? I mean, think Cruel Intentions =Þ.

c) Thanks for your comments Lourdes. I am a star wars fan myself =). I didn't want to put Luke Skywalker in Gryffindor (though I agree he should be there) because I didn't want to have the temptation to write too much about a star wars character further on in the story. I do plan to write an extreme parody after finishing this story though, with characters from South Park, Star Wars, Lord Of the Rings, The Simpsons, Lethal Weapon, Terminator, and other movies all worked into the stories of the first 4 books. That may be fun =Þ.

Finally, thank you very much again for the reviews and opinions as well as to those of you who noticed errors that I have made in previous chapters. I fully appreciate your comments and reviews and I hope I have managed to entertain you thus far. Now, on to the next chapter. 

Chapter 10

            The next morning, Harry was looking over his schedule for the day, as well as checking his timetable for the term. "Transfiguration first thing for all of us," he said out loud to Hermione and Ron who were also checking their schedules. "I really wonder how tough McGonogall's classes are going to be this year. If the way she drilled us during our O.W.Ls was any indicator of how the next 2 years are going to be I'm not sure I'll be able to stand it for too long," he said as he spread some jam over his buttered toast. 

"Well, I've heard Professor McGonogall can be very tough on students for N.E.W.Ts. But it's a good thing. After all, at least we know we're getting quality education. Unlike what happened with Umbridge last year," said Hermione as she examined her own timetable. "We've got potions together on Wednesday's Harry, and Charms later today. Defence Against the Dark Arts classes are on Thursdays," she said briskly as she too helped herself to some breakfast. 

"Well at least I'll still be seeing you guys for some classes," said Ron who didn't sound too excited about the prospect of going to some of the classes alone. "Still, like I said, I'm not complaining about not having to do Potions….." 

If Harry had thought that Professor McGonogall was going to be tough on them this year, he was in every way correct. Professor McGonogall had stressed to them at the very beginning of the class that anyone failing to perform up to expectations will be expelled from the class. 

"Transfiguration at this level is by far the most difficult and dangerous of all branches of magic to a wizard of any age. Anyone who has taken my class before will tell you that I expect nothing but the best of performances in my class," she announced to them the moment she stepped into class. 

"Therefore, I will not tolerate any misbehaviour or falling behind in this class. All of you here will cease to be underage wizards within the next year, and you have been accepted into this class based on your O.W.L results. There is no reason for anyone in this class not to be able to keep up with the studies for the year. I must also stress upon you all that the 6th year is NOT a "honeymoon" year. Whatever you learn during the duration of the year will be extremely important for your N.E.W.Ts next year," she emphasized.

"Normally, only half the class will last until N.E.W.Ts and I expect nothing but the best from you all," she said in an almost final tone and then proceeded to lecture to them about the theories and concepts of turning insubstantial inanimate matter into complex living organisms. 

At the end of class, Harry was glad to have been done with that class. His hands were aching from writing down all the notes Professor McGonogall had given them, and she mentioned that they will be putting theory into practice for the next class and advised them to study the material thoroughly. Before he left the class however, Professor McGonogall beckoned for Harry to stay behind for a moment. 

"Mr.Potter, the first of your "classes" will begin tonight. I will be expecting you in my office an hour after dinner," she said briskly. 

Harry nodded in reply. "One other matter, the Gryffindor quidditch team has run very short of players. Despite your past, mishaps, I feel that you should be the one to take over the captaincy," she said referring to his loss of temper the previous year that had earned him the lifelong ban.

"There is also the fact that Miss Bell has declined to take the position of Gryffindor team captain. You are obviously the best choice after Miss Bell. That is, if you are feeling up to it. I know that Mr.Weasley was a member of the team last year, but he is less experienced and has only been on the team for a year. If you feel that you are not up to the task, I will delegate it to Mr.Weasley," she said to Harry, the tone of her voice indicating that she expected nothing but the greatest of dedication from him if she made him captain.

"I'll try out the captaincy for a while Professor. I think I can manage it," Harry said. He was excited at the prospect of being quidditch captain, although he was nervous about having to lead the team to victory again this year. He just hoped that he could manage it with all the other things he had to do. 

"Very well," replied Professor McGonogall. "Team tryouts will be held on Saturday morning. I will arrange for the quidditch pitch to be booked," she said as she straightened her glasses and reached for a parchment. 

"You may go," she said as she dismissed Harry who left the classroom and headed to the Great Hall for lunch. 

"Guess what guys," Harry said as he sat down with Ron and Hermione who were already starting on their lunch. "Professor McGonogall just made me quidditch captain. Tryouts for the new team will be on this weekend Ron, you better be awake by then and be with me on the pitch. You and Katie are the only other players left from last year," he said quickly as he grabbed some lunch.

"That's great mate. Had to be you though, no one else could have made captain," said Ron. "Katie and I are not the only ones left from the last team you know, there's still Ginny and those two blokes who played beater last year," he added.

"Yeah well, you're the only ones I've ever played with on the team Ron," Harry replied as Katie Bell came up to him.

"Harry! I just heard you've been made captain. Congratulations! McGonogall did ask me but I didn't think I'd be a good captain. It'll be too busy with N.E.W.Ts this year and I already saw the hell that Angelina went through last year," she said to him.

"Thanks Katie. It's good that I still have you and Ron here. The team's gonna miss Angelina and Alicia though," he said disappointedly. 

"We'll find someone Harry," said Katie reassuringly. "So team tryouts are on….." she asked. 

"They're on Saturday morning Katie. You'll have to keep an eye out for the chasers. After all, you'll be leading the chasers on the pitch," he said to her. "I've told Professor McGonogall to make the announcement already," he added.

"I'll be there Harry. I have to go for class, see you captain," she said as Ginny approached the table and sat down next to Harry.  
"Hi Harry, have a good first day back at class?" she asked brightly.

"Yeah Ginny, it was fine. Listen, there are going to be quidditch tryouts on Saturday morning. Feel up to playing this year?" he asked Ginny, remembering that she had replaced him as seeker the previous year. 

"Oh, that'll be great! I did tell you last year I wanted to try out for chaser remember? I assume that you're the captain Harry?" said Ginny.

Harry nodded his head. "Congratulations Harry. So, does being friends with the quidditch captain of the Gryffindor team earn those who are trying out for the team any favours?" Ginny asked playfully as she winked suggestively at him. 

"Ginny! Harry's not supposed to abuse his power as team captain. You don't see Ron and I abusing our powers as prefects do you?" said Hermione very seriously. Harry could see that Ron was trying very hard not to blush, and was grinning slightly guiltily at Hermione's statement. 

"I was only joking Hermione," said Ginny, "You should know that I wouldn't ask Harry to do me that kind of favour," she said sounding rather disappointed that Hermione would suggest that she would take advantage of her friendship with Harry. 

"I know Ginny, I was joking too," giggled Hermione as she was playfully slapped on the shoulder by Ginny. 

Just then, a storm of owls invaded the great hall dropping letters sent from families to their children and also the usual items that some students had forgotten to bring along. 

"That's a little weird, owls normally arrive first thing in the morning……wonder why letters are being sent at this time this year," said Ron as he opened up his usual letter from Mrs.Weasley. "Mum says hi and asks you to take care of yourself Harry. You too Hermione," he said as he folded his letter and put it into his robes. 

Harry himself had received a note written in very scribbly writing which he recognised at once.

_Hey Harry. Thought the three of you might want to join me for a spot of tea after yer classes. Owl me back with a reply._

_                                                                                                Hagrid_

Harry quickly wrote down his reply and tied the note to Hedwig's leg. He stroked her gently on the head as she cooed in response, nodded her head and set off dutifully.

The next class for the day was Charms, which they had with the Ravenclaws. Professor Flitwick, taking a cue from Professor McGonogall started the class by telling the students about the importance and difficulty of the charms they were supposed to master at that level. Professor Flitwick was not nearly as strict as Professor McGonogall when it came to his classes, but Harry noticed that he more thorough then usual when it came to making sure that the students understood and were capable of performing the charms that he had taught. He was also conducting the class in a more serious way than he had previously did as he proceeded to lecture them about the Leviathos charm, which was very similar to the basic Wingardium Leviosa charm but by using that charm, it afforded the user a degree of control that was far greater than the basic levitation spell. 

"The basic levitations spell, Wingardium Leviosa," he said, "allows the user only rudimentary ability to control levitating objects. If and when you have managed to master the Leviathos charm, your ability to control objects in the air will be very similar to actually controlling the object with your own hand. It works very much like an invisible hand. Please pay attention to the wand movements required for this charm, as the ability and degree to which you are able to control the spell depends very highly on this aspect," squeaked the little professor. 

They were to try out the charm with a very heavy book placed in front of them, which according to Professor Flitwick was to be the most basic of objects that they would levitate. He was overseeing the class's work very intently. He had been very critical (which is not normally his style) with Terry Boot's Leviathos charm which did not work as intended and he could only manage to levitate the book in front of him for a short while before it seemed to slip from his grasp and fell to the floor. He had also reprimanded Ron slightly about his wand technique. Hermione however, received the usual praise of excellence from him as she demonstrated the perfect way of performing the charm by making the pages of the book flip as though she were reading it and flipping through the book with her own fingers.

"Teacher's pet," mumbled Ron as Hermione beamed when she received her praise from the little professor. 

By the time classes were over it was almost tea time. Harry had done reasonably well in that last class, although he did not have the degree of control with the charm as Hermione did, he still managed to actually flip through a few pages of the book while performing the charm. Although Professor's Flitwick's class was not as stressful as Professor McGonogall's, he had also given them workload to rival their Transfiguration teacher's. 

"It's the first day back and we've got enough homework to bury us six feet under," moaned Ron as they walked down to the familiar Hogwarts grounds towards Hagrid's Hut. "Really, how Fred and George ever manage to pull so many pranks in their sixth year baffles me," he said with a very tired sigh.

"I don't think they were all that worried about their homework Ron, an attitude which I do not suggest that you emulate. You heard what Professor Flitwick and McGonogall told us in class about how important this year's work is….," lectured Hermione before she was cut off by Ron for the umpteenth time. "

"I know Hermione, I know. It's just going to be hard to keep up this year that's all I'm saying," he said. 

"Well Ron, if you don't keep interfering with what I have to say then I might just consider helping you out during the year," said Hermione briskly as they knocked on Hagrid's door. 

They were met by Hagrid's usual large bushy hair and beard. He did not look as bad as he did when they first saw him last year right after he had returned from the mission he was sent on by Dumbledore. He looked better rested and seemed to have put on a little weight even (if that was possible to tell). 

"Ahh, come on in. Just in time fer yer tea. Been wonderin' what time yer classes would end today," said Hagrid when he opened the door. Fang let out a yelp and proceeded to lick Harry on the face, and then to lick Ron's. 

"So…..hope yer enjoyed yer summer," he asked the three of them as he set up the teacups and some rock cakes. 

"Er……it was okay. At least I spent it at headquarters rather than Privet Drive," said Harry as he helped himself to a rock cake (out of politeness of course). "How was yours?" he asked Hagrid. 

"Wasn' ter bad. Been teachin' Grawp sum English. Think he's got the hang on sum' now. 'Least he ain't tearin' up the forest no'more," he said. "Heard yer did well in yer O.W.Ls. All of ya," beamed Hagrid as he looked at his students (or at least two former ones) with pride. The three of them simply beamed back at him. They were happy to have made Hagrid proud of them. "An' the three of ya did great in Care o' Magical Creatures," he said equally as proud. 

"Didn't want to let you down Hagrid, especially with what was going on last year," said Harry. "By the way, do you know about Prof-..," Harry was cut short from his question when he heard a knock on the door. 

"Now who could that be?" asked Ron as Hagrid went to open the door to reveal a red-headed girl standing at the door. "Ginny?" asked Ron. 

"Oh hi guys, I thought I was about to come and visit Hagrid after class, I couldn't find any of you and so I thought maybe I'd find you here. Even if I didn't find you here I thought I'd just drop by Hagrid's," she said as Hagrid ushered her in and offered her a cup of tea and a rock cake (she declined of course, saying that she was still full from lunch). 

"Ya were sayin' Harry?" asked Hagrid as he sat down on his enormous bed which creaked as he sat down. 

"I was just about to ask you about Professor Dumbledore's brother, Professor Aberforth," asked Harry. 

"Professor Abe you mean," corrected Hermione. 

"Ah yea, well," Hagrid seem to think for a moment about this, "I've on'y met Professor Dumbledore's brother once 'r twice," he said as he tried to recall the number times. "Weird fella, Professor Abe, always seems ter be wanderin' around his mind," he continued. Harry was not remotely surprised that Hagrid described Professor Aberforth as weird. After all, Mad-Eye Moody seemed to think along the same lines as Hagrid and coming from Mad-Eye Moody that was saying something. Harry could have noticed that for himself when he first set eyes on Professor Aberforth.

"He just doesn't seem like a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor," said Ron as a matter of fact. "He doesn't look like he knows much about the Dark Arts, he definitely doesn't look like he's much of a fighter anyway," he said as Hermione and Ginny nodded in agreement.

"Well, that's yer opinion abou' Professor Abe. I'll tell ye' this much though. Professor Dumbledore's brother is a very talented wizard himself, even though he migh' be weird. He ain' as powerful as Professor Dumbledore himself, but I've heard that he held his ground good agains' You-Know-Who's forces durin' the firs' war. You'll see. Professor Abe'll be able to teach you a thing or two about fightin' the Dark Arts," Hagrid said seriously, indicating that he stood by any relation of Dumbledore and of Dumbledore's choice to hire his own brother as the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor. "I'll be missin' two of ya in me classes this term I see," Hagrid mentioned to Hermione and Harry, sounding a little disappointed. 

"I'm sorry Hagrid, but well I don't mean to offend but I never really thought of having anything to do with magical creatures in my future career. Not that I don't enjoy your classes. I'll miss them," said Hermione. Harry felt that Hermione had said that with a little too much empathy. Perhaps she was feeling a little guilty about not thinking that Hagrid was a good teacher the previous year and was trying to make up for it slightly. 

"Nah I understand Hermione. Harry 'ere wants to be an Auror and Care o' Magical Creatures ain' exactly a requirement fer that now is it?" he said trying to reassure them that he wasn't at all bitter with them. "Ron's still taking the classes, not surprisin' though. The whole Weasley family took the subject. Charlie especially did well in it not surprisin'ly. I don' blame yer for doin' other things Hermione, yer intelligent enough ter do anythin' yer want in the wizardin' world."

Hermione smiled at Hagrid. "Thanks Hagrid, it means a lot to me that you aren't disappointed we didn't choose Care of Magical Creatures for our N.E.W.Ts."

It was getting late and Hagrid mentioned that they should be going on to the Great Hall for dinner. They said their goodbye's to Hagrid and were leaving the hut when Hagrid beckoned for Harry to stay back a while. Harry obliged, knowing in his heart what Hagrid was going to talk to him about. He wasn't surprised though, a lot of people seemed to be doing that to him lately, he wasn't really getting irritated by it, in fact he was actually quite heartened that so many people were caring for the way he felt. It certainly was a change from how he felt at the beginning of the previous year, when he felt that everyone else was keeping him at arm's length. 

"Jus' wanted ter know if yer coping with………you know," asked Hagrid.

"Thanks for caring Hagrid, but I'm fine now. It still hurts if I think about it too much, but I'll be fine," Harry said honestly. 

"Good good. I know yer know this already, but work hard in those extra classes yer getting. You have a heavy task ahead, much greater a task than grown wizards and witches have ter do, and I'm not all that happy 'bou what you have to do, but I have faith in yer Harry. Yer never have disappointed us," said Hagrid. "Now then, off yer go," he said ushering him to get to the Great Hall.

Harry simply nodded and said goodbye to Hagrid. As he walked to catch up with Ron, Hermione and Ginny, he wondered about what Hagrid had said about Professor Abe. If Professor Abe was really as good as Hagrid said he was, it made him even more curious about his new professor than he had ever been. "We'll just have to wait till the time comes I guess," he thought as he joined his friends and was met by the delicious smell of dinner coming from the Great Hall.

Note: In some of my past reviews I mentioned that Hagrid isn't mentioned much in fanfics. I hope I can do some justification to his character in my own. Anyway, I hope I got the way Hagrid talks well enough. Hope you enjoy this. 


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and characters related to it. Harry Potter and its characters are the intellectual property of the talented J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Scholastic, Raincoast, and Bloomsbury books. Storyline and plot have been developed partially based on the plots, characters and storylines of the first 5 installments of Harry Potter, The Sorcerer's Stone, The Chamber of Secrets, The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Goblet of Fire and The Order of the Phoenix.

Author's Note: I know some of you might think that the classes I have set for Harry and Co. in the story might seem pretty much less than their normal school years. Again, I will explain by saying that I am working on the assumption that during their N.E.W.Ts years, the extent of which they will cover each subject will be in much greater detail, thus having longer classes and less of them during the week. Sort of like how University life is like. Then again, I am very sure that J.K. Rowling would have thought of something more creative. I just hope that the idea I have used is satisfactory. I also didn't go too in depth into their timetables but even Miss Rowling doesn't do that too extensively and so I'm just taking a cue from her =). 

Chapter 11

Later that night, Harry found himself walking towards Professor McGonogall's classroom with curiosity running through his mind. It was already quite late, being almost an hour after dinner, and the dark night skies were filled with the sounds of the various night creatures that had come out to enjoy the solace of the dark. Harry approached the familiar classroom and knocked on the door lightly. 

"Come in," said a voice from behind the door.

Harry obliged and opened the door to see Professor McGonogall sitting down at her desk, a pile of papers in front of her. 

"Good evening Mr. Potter. I am glad to see that you are punctual. Let us hope this punctuality is frequently practiced," she said as she cleared the desk in front of her with a flick of her wand. "Now, you must be curious as to which part of Transfiguration will play into your combat training. Well Mr. Potter, although I will say that I would be more than able to train you in combat, Professor Dumbledore and I have decided that your lessons with me will constitute something else."

Harry was curious about what Professor McGonogall was going on about and was about to voice his thoughts when she spoke again.

"In light of the recent events, we are all in agreement that it is important that your knowledge of magic should be as extensive as possible. Normally, I would not even consider teaching my students this level of magic until they are well into their 7th year, but for you, I am making an exception," she said seriously. "I will be training you into attempting transformations as an animagus, Mr. Potter."

Harry was surprised at this new revelation, if not excited about it. His father and godfather had been animagi and now he was about to learn to become on. 

"Professor McGonogall, not to sound unappreciative of what you're offering to teach me, I'm very interested in the prospect of become an animagus but I'm curious as to how this would help me in becoming………..," he stopped to think about this before changing his mind as to what he was going to say, "how this would help me face the task I must do," he said.

"Well Mr. Potter, being an animagus has many great uses and if you are to be capable of facing the task ahead of you, you will find that extensive knowledge of the various branches of magic will help you greatly in future events," she explained. "Your late godfather I believe had put his abilities to the greatest extent, when he was on the run from the Ministry of Magic. The fact that you are training as an animagus will not be revealed to anyone outside this room. You may choose to tell Mr. Weasley and Miss. Granger as I know you can trust them, but it would be better if you could avoid telling them.  Rest assured Harry, that what Professor Dumbledore decides you should learn is for the best," she said in a final tone.

Harry had nothing to say after that. He was quite surprised that Professor McGonogall had referred to him by his first name, something which she did not normally do, but he decided not to make too much of an issue about it and proceeded to pay attention to what Professor McGonogall had to teach him. She went on for the next one hour, telling him about various transfiguration techniques that he had never been taught before. Professor McGonogall had explained to him, that before a wizard can attempt at being an animagus, he must have a very strong grasp of the basic transfiguration techniques. They proceeded with most of the lesson with Harry practicing and honing his skills with the basic aspects of transfiguration. 

"Very good Mr.Potter," praised Professor McGonogall at the end of the lesson (which progressed much longer than the intended hour) as Harry was starting to feel the effects of the long practice weigh down on his concentration. "It seems that in only your first class you have managed to meet my expectations of basic transfiguration capability, and to say that you have met my expectations is saying a lot," she commended him. "In our next class together we will proceed with the more advanced aspects of transfiguration that I have told you about at the beginning of this lesson. After what I have seen today, I have no doubt that you will be able to grasp the techniques well enough. Please bear in mind that your father and godfather took the better part of their school life to get the animagus transformation correct. Although I admit, that attempting to become an animagus without proper instruction can be very dangerous and difficult, it was not entirely impossible for them, especially with their talent. I can see some of your father's talent in you and I am sure that you will be able to master the transformation in less time than he did. Now, due to the fact that you are doing extra transfiguration lessons with me, I will not be too particular with the quality of the homework that I assign to you, but please make an effort in doing it as it will help you in this class as well," she said finally as the lesson ended and she beckoned for him to return to the Gryffindor tower. 

"By the way Harry, your next class will be with Professor Flitwick on Wednesday," she said to him as he thanked his Professor and bade her good night. 

As Harry was walking back to the Gryffindor tower, he couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to be an animagus. He had not found the lesson with Professor McGonogall as dull as he thought it would be, although it was extremely tiring and required great amounts of his concentration. He wondered what animal form he would take should he succeed in becoming an animagus as he reached the portrait of the fat lady and muttered the password to step into the Gryffindor common room. 

Ron, Hermione and Ginny were still sitting in the common room. There were parchments spread out in front of them as he joined them at the table. 

"Oh god, I never thought I'd be able to finish all that work! Thanks Hermione, you're really one in a million," said Ron victoriously as he dropped his quill and stretched his arms in the air.

"Well, it would help if you paid a little more attention in class Ron, then I wouldn't have to correct your work as often as I am now," said Hermione as she started to put away her own homework. 

"How was your "lesson" with Professor McGonogall Harry?" asked Ginny without taking her eyes off her Divination homework. 

"It was………interesting. I see you're doing your divination homework Ginny," said Harry as he tried to avoid the subject on what he was learning with Professor McGonogall. 

"Oh well, Professor Trelawny wanted us to write about our prediction for the coming week based on the star charts again," she moaned. "I can't seem to figure out what's going to happen on Thursday, I've already been bitten by a flobberworm on Wednesday, fallen off my broom on Saturday, I can't seem to think of anything else," she said as she flipped her star charts back and forth. 

"Well, Ron and I happen to be experts in Divination," said Harry with a grin. "Just predict that you'll foresee the gruesome death of a particular student with green eyes, glasses and a lightning shaped scar on his forehead and you'll do fine," he said jokingly. 

They all broke out into a fit of laughter as Harry said that (except for Hermione of course) before Hermione noticed the time and said that they should be getting to bed. Harry didn't argue with this as he was feeling quite tired himself, deciding to leave his homework for later, hoping that it doesn't weigh down too much on him. 

The next class that Harry had to attend during that week was potions with Professor Snape. Harry had not been looking forward to classes with Professor Snape at all. He felt like he would rather take on three Hungarian Horntails rather than enter into Snape's classroom again. Hermione seemed to have sensed Harry's discomfort on that particular morning and was hard pressed to try and cheer him up.

"It won't be that bad Harry, I'll make sure that I help you in every way I can in Snape's class," she said to him. "I can't guarantee that he won't take points away from Gryffindor or if he'll be any nicer, but we'll try and make sure he doesn't have reasons to be mean to you."

"Since when does Snape need an excuse to be mean to me? I don't know Hermione. I'm not looking forward to this and I don't want you to have to put up with another Neville in potions class," he said as he saw Neville's head look up from a few places from where he was sitting, "No offense Neville," he apologized to his fellow Gryffindor from where he was sitting. 

"Don't worry about it Harry. Actually, I should be the one feeling sorry for you," said Neville half-jokingly. 

"Very funny Neville," said Harry. 

During the potions class on that day, Harry had to exercise a lot of self control not to shout or displease his potions master in any way. They were still having potions classes with the Slytherins, which did not help to contain Harry's emotions in that particular class. The feelings he had for Snape were still as strong as they were at the end of the previous year, and he was not about to put aside his feelings any time soon. Professor Snape seemed to start his 6th year classes along the same lines as every other professor at Hogwarts, by emphasizing on the importance of their 6th year work for their N.E.W.Ts. 

"I expect nothing but the best from my N.E.W.Ts students every year," he said in his oily voice. "You are no longer the bumbling morons that I have to teach year in, year out. You have been accepted in my class because you are the very best, well, at least some of you," he said as his eyes shot a nasty look at Harry, which Harry returned. 

Professor Snape then flicked his wand at the blackboard, and instructions for a potion appeared on the board. "These are instructions on how to brew the potion of everlasting sleep. Bear in mind that the potions you will brew in this class from this moment onwards will be increasingly difficult and dangerous. You are taking this class at your own risk, and if some of you find what I am saying trivial and of little importance, then do so at your own demise," he said as he continued to lecture them for nearly an hour on the aspects of the potion, its uses as well as its remedies. "You will now have an hour to brew the potion. The effectiveness of this potion will not be present after a mere hour, as it requires a week for the ingredients to come into effect. You will however, be testing your own potion in your next class. I will have the remedy for the potion available. Be warned, I will only have the remedy to the effects of everlasting sleep in class next week. If you commit any mistakes in brewing your potion, you had better be prepared to face the consequences of them yourself," he said in an oily sternness.

Harry made sure to read every line on the blackboard as clearly and carefully as he could as he started to brew his own potion. He had been warned by Hermione when he had cut his piece of dragon liver in slightly too big pieces, and again when she noticed his essence of burlap was slightly off the measuring scale. Harry was ever thankful that Hermione was there with him in that class as he carefully stirred the concoction and allowed it to simmer for the remainder of the class. Professor Snape merely looked at his potion, not commenting on any aspect of it, nor even looking at Harry. He simply kept his gaze away from his student, which Harry felt he did on purpose. 

"Thanks for helping me out in there Hermione," said Harry as he left the potions class, grateful that it was finally over. "I would have had it if you didn't tell me about the dragon liver and the essence of burlap."

"No problem Harry, just try to be very careful in the next class," she said. "Your potion looked okay, I doubt there was any problem with it," she told him reassuringly.

"Well, it went well this time, let's just hope that I can keep it up. Did you notice that aside from his announcement at the beginning of the class Snape didn't even look at me? He didn't even say anything about me or even commented on my potion. Not that I'm complaining, but it wasn't like Snape not to look for some reason to blame me for something," he said.

"Well I did notice that myself. I don't know Harry, maybe he's actually feeling sorry for what happened last year," shrugged Hermione.

"Yeah, and next thing you know they'll tell me I'm related to Buckbeak," said Harry as they went to meet up with Ron and Ginny for lunch. 

"I see you guys made it out of the dungeon alive. How was Snape, Harry?" asked Ron as Harry sat down next to him, and started grabbing his lunch. He had been feeling particularly famished after the potions class, must be his nerves he thought. 

"The usual, except this time Snape didn't say anything to me, or even look at me," said Harry as he started on his beef goulash. 

"He didn't say a single thing Harry? Weird," said Ron in disbelief. 

"Yeah I know," said Harry as he swallowed, "You would have thought he'd be hard pressed to kick the habit of picking on me by now, or maybe he was just happy that Neville was no longer a student of his."

"I'm as happy as he is," said Neville as he joined them at the table. "Just came back from Herbology, just had to stay back and ask Professor Sprout some questions about the ether-root that we're going to be learning about."

Harry was not surprised that Neville did not remotely care for doing potions in N.E.W.Ts, after all, Harry felt that Snape's dislike for Neville could only be rivaled by Neville's dislike for Snape. Neville had mentioned that he didn't do well for his potions O.W.L earlier, and Harry did not pursue the matter with him. 

"So what about those Defense classes tomorrow?" asked Neville. "I'm really wondering what Professor Abe will be teaching." Neville had also opted to take Defense Against the Dark Arts for his N.E.W.Ts. It was one of the classes where Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Neville would be attending together. This was also true for all of Harry's dorm mates. Dean and Seamus also chose to take Defense Against the Dark Arts for their N.E.W.Ts. 

"Don't know what to expect Neville. We'll just have to see if Professor Abe teaches as weird as he looks," said Ron as they all nodded in agreement. 

After dinner that night, Harry excused himself again from the Gryffindor common room, after spending as much time as he could on the homework that he had gotten for the week thus far. He had not really managed to finish a lot of the work, and still had a gaping amount of homework to be completed. Still, his classes were with Professor Flitwick tonight and he wondered what the little professor would be responsible for teaching him. He reached Professor Flitwick's classroom to find him standing at the door, waiting for him. 

"Hello Harry. You're right on time," squeaked the tiny Professor. "Shall we get started then?" he said as he ushered Harry into the classroom. 

In his usual squeaky voice, Professor Flitwick told Harry that he was to learn dueling with him. "Size is not necessarily a measure of strength Harry, I'm sure you've heard that before," said Professor Flitwick in an excited voice. "I was a dueling champion once, and dueling is not just about throwing spells at your opponent. It's about knowing effective charms and counter charms that can be used against your opponent. Dueling is the most basic and some believe the essence of learning combat." 

Harry had heard that Professor Flitwick had once been a dueling champion, and was not about to take his professor lightly when it came to dueling. Deep down inside though, Harry wondered if Professor Flitwick was really as good at dueling as people had said he was. 

"Now shall we take our positions?" asked Professor Flitwick as he walked across the empty classroom. "We will cast our spells when this bell sounds," as he waved his wand and a little bell that looked like the ones they had at hotel receptions appeared on the desk in front of the class. "I have cast a spell to make it sound automatically, now if you are ready Harry," he said as Harry obliged his Professor and took his position on the opposite side of the class. 

*Ding*

_"Expelliarmus!"_ shouted Harry, aiming the disarming spell at his professor. 

_"Reversicus Incantatem,"_ squeaked Professor Flitwick, and suddenly, Harry saw the red beam of light coming back towards himself, and all of a sudden, his wand had flown into Professor Flitwick's hand. 

Harry was quite shocked. He did not know what spell Professor Flitwick had used, but it had most certainly been effective. Harry had begun to see his Charms teacher in an entirely new light. 

"Reversicus Incantatem, is the incantation for the rebound spell effect," explained Professor Flitwick. "I had guessed that you would use the disarming spell and I decided to show you the rebound spell. It is actually a rather recent spell that I had helped to develop," he said. Noticing that Harry was going to ask a question Professor Flitwick voiced his thoughts first, "I guess that you are going to ask, what difference is this spell from the shield spell?" 

Harry nodded in response and Professor Flitwick continued, "You see Harry, the shield spell deflects unfriendly curses from you and keeps you safe, to an extent. The rebound spell allows you to counter the spell being sent at you by blocking it _and sending it back against the caster. However, the spell is only effective based on a wizard's strength and abilities. It has limited effect against powerful spells. Unfortunately, it doesn't work against the killing curse, and some other more powerful spells. It is a useful spell nevertheless, and like I said, the extent to which the spell will work is based on a wizard's strength. You may only be able to rebound the most basic of spells at first, but if you master the spell, and if you are strong enough, physically, mentally and magically, you will be able to rebound spells of greater power as you go along."_

Harry marveled at the knowledge of his Charms professor and could not wait to get started on learning a new spell that would prove very useful in combat. They proceeded to train for the next hour or so, as he had done with Professor McGonogall. By the end of their training session, Harry had successfully been able to rebound all the minor curses being sent at him (none of them hit Professor Flitwick though, who was at all times quick enough to cast the shield spell). Harry was quite happy with his achievement and Professor Flitwick had looked pleased with Harry. 

"Well that should do it for today," squeaked Professor Flitwick. "We shall resume our lessons next week. You did well today Harry," he praised. 

"Thank you Professor Flitwick, I must admit though, I had only heard from people that you were a champion dueler once. Now I understand why you had been," said Harry voicing his opinion. 

"Why thank you Harry, but like I said, size is no measure of strength," winked Professor Flitwick. "Now go on, it's getting late. You still have Charms homework to finish I presume."

Harry groaned slightly before Professor Flitwick said, "I know that Professor McGonogall has given you leniency for your homework Harry. I will do the same, although I will tell you the same thing, try not to let the quality of your homework deteriorate. What you learn in class will help you a lot in these extra "lessons". 

Harry sighed and nodded his head again as he bade his professor goodnight. 

"Whew, these extra classes are really taking the strength out of me," he thought, feeling tired, yet strangely satisfied. He was walking towards the Gryffindor Tower when he was stopped by Ernie MacMillan. 

"Harry, what are you doing out of the Gryffindor Tower at this hour?" he asked. 

"Er….I had to see Professor Flitwick about something, here's a note from him," he said as he showed the note that Professor Flitwick had written for him just before he left the class. 

"Hmmmm," said Ernie as he examined the note. "Seems alright I guess, you should be going back to the tower now," he said as Harry nodded and walked on. 

"Hey Harry," Ernie called just as he took a few steps. "Just wondering, er, are the DA meetings going to continue," he asked in a secretive tone, not sure if was alright for him to be asking. 

Harry hadn't thought about the DA since he got back to Hogwarts. He had been too busy from the extra classes to give it much thought. "Err..I haven't decided on the first meeting yet," he lied. "You know, it's been busy and I'm quidditch captain now. I'll inform the members as soon as I work it out. Don't worry, I've got the green light from Dumbledore. Do you still have your fake galleons though?" he asked as he reassured Ernie that it was all right to continue with the DA. 

"Oh yeah, most of us still have the galleons. Some of us have been wondering when you were going to start the meetings again. Lucky I ran into you tonight," said Ernie. "So the usual will happen when you decide on a date?" he said, the usual referring to the galleons showing the date of their next meeting, a neat charm which Hermione had done for the members, charming fake galleons to mimic Harry's one so that the date of the next meeting would burn on the galleon whenever Harry decided on the date for the next meeting. 

"Yeah. I'll look into the timetable of the other members and try and set a date," said Harry. Ernie nodded and bade him goodnight. Harry then continued back to the Gryffindor Tower, thinking that it was going to get really busy this year. "Well, at least I'll be able to teach them some new stuff with all the lessons I'm getting," he thought as he reached the portrait of the fat lady. "Wonder what Professor Abe will be teaching me though," were his final thoughts as he walked into the common room and retired to his dormitory.  


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and characters related to it. Harry Potter and its characters are the intellectual property of the talented J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Scholastic, Raincoast, and Bloomsbury books. Storyline and plot have been developed partially based on the plots, characters, and storylines of the first 5 installments of Harry Potter, The Sorcerer's Stone, The Chamber of Secrets, The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Goblet of Fire, and The Order of the Phoenix.

Author's note: Thank you again for the reviews and comments. I seem to have made a habit of stating a few things before all my chapters. This chapter is no different =Þ. I just want to say that I hope I can continue to meet the expectations of the readers. Furthermore, I can't promise that this story will be hundreds of pages long and that it will be updated as frequently and quickly in the near future. I still have a relatively light workload since I'm just starting my course again. However, I cannot promise this consistency in the future. I just hope I can finish most of the story till then. One other thing, I still haven't figured out how to write Luna Lovegood into the story yet. I'm sure she will also play a substantial role in the next book. After all, she had a whole chapter named after her. Oh yeah note to David, if J.K Rowling mentioned Dumbledore's age in an interview, its no wonder I never heard of it. I'll take your word for it. And as for the last testament thing……..ah well…….I'll just have to apologize, can't make everyone happy. Thanks for your input though, I'll keep it in mind. 

Chapter 12

Defence Against the Dark Arts was probably the most anticipated class for the 6th year students taking the subject for N.E.W.Ts. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville were not excluded from the anticipation of their first Defence class with Professor Abe. The prospect of learning from Professor Dumbledore's own brother (albeit his very weird looking brother) was giving the students a wild sense of curiosity as rumours about Professor Abe were spreading amongst the Gryffindor 6th years who would be taking the classes. 

"I heard that Professor Abe took on 10 death eaters single handed and managed to hold them off long enough for Aurors to come and take them all in," said Seamus excitedly over breakfast. 

"I heard that Professor Abe actually faced You-Know-Who and got away more than once," exclaimed Dean when Seamus had mentioned his piece of news over the breakfast table. 

"Where did you hear all of this from?" asked Hermione curiously. 

"It's in the paper," said Seamus as he motioned towards a copy of The Daily Prophet which was a few days old, lying on the space next to him on the bench. 

"Oh," snorted Hermione as she exchanged knowing looks with Harry, Ron and Neville who grinned in agreement. They all knew that The Daily Prophet was not a very good source of information. True, they had been very supportive of Harry since the announcement of Voldemort's return and had praised him and Dumbledore for their foresight and conviction. The paper however, was still quick to criticise some of Dumbledore's decisions in running Hogwarts, and the reliability of some of their published works was still as doubtful as ever. Harry however, was a little anxious over the classes. No doubt that Harry didn't have any problems trusting Professor Dumbledore's brother, he was still a little wary of the new Defence Professor. After all, his last two professors had tried to kill him (technically) and get him expelled respectively. He knew that he didn't have to worry about Professor Abe, seeing that he was Professor Dumbledore's brother, but still he decided to take a cue from Mad-Eye Moody's book. 

"Constant Vigilance," he thought as they approached the classroom which was to be used for Defence Against the Dark Arts. 

The students were rather surprised when they stepped into Professor Abe's classroom. Their new professor seemed to have conjured a large and comfortable armchair in front of his desk, and was sitting with his back facing them. 

"Come on in and take your seats please," sounded a voice from behind the armchair. Harry thought that Professor Abe's voice sounded a lot like a cowboy's voice from old muggle movies. 

The class obliged and quickly took their seats. Harry noticed that there were quite a number of students in Defence Against the Dark Arts, and that they were not just comprised of Gryffindors. There were 6th year students from the other houses as well, as he saw a few DA members in the class as well, Hannah Abbot, Susan Bones, Ernie MacMillan and Justin Finch-Fletchley from Hufflepuff as well as Padma Patil and some of her friends from Ravenclaw were in the class as well. Parvati and Lavender it seemed, did not want to take Defence Against the Dark Arts for their N.E.W.Ts. There were almost 20 students in the classroom. 

"Welcome, to your first Defence Against the Dark Arts class with me, Professor Abe," said the grizzly bearded professor as he turned around to face them. Professor Abe was definitely a very weird character. He seemed to be wearing his colour-changing robes over what had seemed to Harry as a Scottish Kilt only that the patchwork was made of a very clashing yellow and purple material. Hermione could only manage some muffled giggles as she saw the professor's outfit, something which she was not prone to doing, especially in classes. 

"Professor Dumbledore has notified me of your progress in this class. I have to say that despite the recent events, and the quality of teaching last year.." he had said that last part with a tone of distaste, "that some of the students in this class are actually quite adept when it comes to fighting the Dark Arts," he said as his eyes wandered towards Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville who grinned slightly when he had said that. 

"Remus Lupin," he continued, "has informed me that you have already covered most aspects of facing Dark Creatures, and from what I have heard, you have already had extensive coverage of some illegal curses." 

Professor Abe had said this all very dreamily and his voice seemed to change into pitches of high and low, sometimes sounding a little like Hagrid, and at other times his voice vaguely resembled Professor Dumbledore's. "So…..what else is there to learn? You might ask yourselves," he said as he proceeded to walk to the front of the class when he seemingly tripped over his own robes and fell face first onto the floor. 

The class was overcome with some muffled laughter, most of the students staring at disbelief that this was their Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, the school headmaster's brother. 

"Wouldja be kind enurf to help me up please," he beckoned to his students, still lying face first on the floor, as Seamus stood up to help the "Nutty" Professor. 

In what had seemed like an instant, as Seamus bent down to help the "Nutty" professor up, the class was suddenly taken aback as Seamus had been grabbed in an arm lock by Professor Abe, just as he was being helped up, and had his wand pointed at Seamus's neck. 

"Easily tricked though, this class seems," said Professor Abe. 

Harry, as well as everyone else in class was visibly stunned by what they had just seen. Professor Abe had said that last sentence in a very steady and stern voice, and his expression no longer remained dreamy, nor did his mind seem to be wandering around the room. The dreamy, dazed looking professor suddenly disappeared as though he had never existed, and in place of that person, was a very stern looking old man, with a steely gaze that set everyone sitting upright in their seats, paying full attention to every word the man had to say. 

"This is the first and FOREMOST thing you must remember about fighting the Dark Arts," he said to them as he let go of Seamus and asked him to return to his seat. "NEVER, NEVER let your guard down, no matter who it is, no matter how it seems," he said to them. "Even though Mad-Eye Moody was never really your Defence teacher during his time here, his impostor did do one thing right. He told you to always be on your guard at all times," he told them sternly. 

The classroom was now silent, and every student sitting down in the class at that very moment began to pay absolute attention as they would in Professor McGonogall or Professor Snape's class. Professor Abe's initial appearance was no where near what his true character was seemingly like. 

"I have seen, in my lifetime," he began to tell them in a more mellow tone, "Many a witch or wizard that lost their lives due to carelessness, or underestimating their opponents," he said, as the tone of his voice saddened slightly which made Harry believe that Professor Abe had witnessed such events during the course of his life. "I can teach you all that you need to know about the Dark Arts. I can teach you every technique that is known to counter Dark spells and curses of every sort. But if you are ever careless, if you ever think that the battle has been won before it is over, all the knowledge in the world will not help you," he said to the class. "Bear this in mind, NOTHING is ever what it seems to be," he said to them finally. 

"Now that we have been properly introduced, I shall want to know what each and every student in this class has already learnt, and is capable of," he said to the class. 

The students obliged by telling him (in turns) the spells that they already knew. "Hmmm," he went after the class had finished telling him about the various spells that they knew of and were capable of casting. "It seems to me that some of the students in this class know more than the others," he said as he looked inquisitively at the class.

"Would this have anything to do with a certain secret society that was formed last year?" he asked as he was replied by silent nods by about half the classroom. 

"Well then, first things first, how many of you know what the Patronus charm is?" he asked as the entire classroom put up their hands. "Good, good, and how many of you can create a corporeal Patronus?" he asked again and most of the class dropped their hands. All save Harry, Hermione, and Ron although Ron and Hermione were rather reluctant to keep their hands up as a soft murmur was heard through the class.

"Only three of you," said Professor Abe. "And between the three of you, have you ever managed to conjure a corporeal Patronus in front of a real Dementor?" he asked, as Hermione and Ron instantly put their hands down at the question, leaving Harry as the only person with his hand up. He was feeling rather awkward but he wasn't receiving the attention he normally would have from the rest of the class. Most of them had known since the previous year that Harry was probably the only student able to conjure a corporeal Patronus. 

"Hmmmmm……….," went Professor Abe as he motioned for Harry to put his hand down. "You probably would have already heard of this, Voldemort…," the class shivered uncomfortably as Professor Abe said the name, "has already managed to gain the support of the Dementors. Contrary to what you are being told, or what you believe, I assure you that the threat of facing Dementors is very real and very likely in the near future," he said as he paced up and down the classroom. 

"Dementors are the foulest creatures to walk the land, and I'm sure you have all felt first hand, the effects that a Dementor can have on you," he said as he was answered again with silent nods. "It is difficult, for a wizard to focus on what he or she has to do when in the presence of a Dementor. I could teach you how to conjure a Patronus in this very classroom, but it will be very different when you face a real one," he said as Hermione and Ron nodded in agreement, knowing all too well what Professor Abe had meant. 

"How did you learn how to conjure a Patronus Harry?" he asked, looking at Harry. 

"Err…Professor Lupin taught me in my third year, we used a boggart," he said.

"And the boggart turns into a Dementor when it sees you?" he asked again. Harry nodded. "Impressive. A man who fears fear above all, very impressive," said Professor Abe again. 

There was a soft murmur around the class at what Professor Abe had just said, and Harry blushed slightly when Professor Abe said that. He had heard it before from Remus back in his third year, but it seemed different when he was commended in front of a whole classroom. He was equally impressed that Professor Abe had referred to him as a man. 

"Well then, I don't want to go around the castle looking for a boggart, and I certainly don't want to have a real Dementor in a classroom, even if it is just a boggart," he said to the class.

"However, I am able to replicate the environment which a Dementor creates with a spell that I came across in my younger days," he said. "Prepare yourselves," he motioned to them as he raised his wand and uttered some words softly that no one in the class could quite make out. 

All of a sudden, the temperature in the room dropped, and the classroom suddenly became engulfed in partial darkness. Harry could feel the hairs on the back of his hand stand up, and prickling feelings at the back of his neck. The feeling of depression and sadness were suddenly working their way into him before Professor Abe stopped the incantation and the classroom returned to normal. Harry looked around to see that everyone in class was shivering slightly, and they didn't look all too happy. The effects of the spell Professor Abe had just used did resemble the effects that a Dementor produced when it was near a person, only it did not seem to be as strong as Harry remembered. 

"For those of you who have not felt the effects of a Dementor before, that spell just simulated the effects quite closely, unless I am mistaken?" he asked the class as he was replied by uncomfortable nodding heads. "I can use this spell when you are attempting to conjure a Patronus. I will not cast it again until every single one of you is able to produce a corporeal Patronus," said Professor Abe as he broke off a large slab of chocolate and handed pieces to everyone in class. 

"The effects of this spell are not quite as strong as the effects produced by a real Dementor, even if I held back on the spell quite abit," he said. "I will only ask the class to attempt the Patronus charm in that environment when everyone has successfully demonstrated that they are capable of conjuring a Patronus in a normal environment. Besides, it'll cost too much for me to bring chocolate to class all the time," he said in a grizzly tone. 

"Now, I will start teaching you the Patronus charm next week. Before then, I want each of you to read what you can about the charm, as well as the concepts and aspects of casting the spell. I want an essay written about Dementors and the Patronus charm. Due next week," he said, dropping back into a dreamy tone. "I for one do not believe that reading books will help you fight the Dark arts, but this is a school after all, not an Auror camp. It will help you to understand the spell better if you did some reading before the class," he told them as he dismissed the class. 

"Harry, stay a moment," he beckoned to Harry just as the rest of the students shuffled out of the class. 

"I'll see you guys at lunch," Harry told Ron, Hermione and Neville as he stayed to oblige Professor Abe. 

"How are you going in those extra classes of yours?" he asked, as he sat down on his large armchair which he did not remove throughout the whole class.

"Erm…they're going fine. It's difficult but I think I'm doing okay," said Harry.

"You will not be having 'extra' classes with me just yet, Harry," said Professor Abe. "Before you start classes with me, you're going to have to learn what you can from Professors Flitwick and McGonogall. There are some preparations that Albus and I have to attend to first. Anyway, if you are curious, I will be teaching you about the Dark Arts in your extra classes," he said. 

"The Defence classes," he continued, seeing Harry's inquisitive look, "will not cover certain aspects of the Dark Arts as it is not within the school syllabus. No doubt that some of the things I will teach you will receive a lot of heat from parents and the ministry alike if they were being taught to all the students. Albus and I believe however, that you MUST learn about them. You need to know everything there is to know about fighting the Dark Arts," he explained. 

"Why would parents be upset about what you have to teach me?" asked Harry. "After all, they can't blame the school for wanting to teach students to protect themselves now that Voldemort is back." 

"Because what I am going to teach you is very dangerous Harry. You will need to know about various forms of Dark Magic before you can actually fight them," he answered. 

Harry didn't have anything to say to this. He had thought that he had been fairly prepared to face the Dark Arts throughout his years of facing the dangers he had already faced. What Professor Abe was telling him now meant that what he had faced before was nothing compared to what he had to face in the future. He was still trying to take in this new information when Professor Abe spoke again. 

"This must be tough for someone your age. Even older wizards have not been through as much. I won't try and comfort you Harry. I won't try and give you assurances that I cannot guarantee. I may not have known you for a very long time, but I have heard about you from my brother. Albus has never spoken of anyone the way he speaks about you. If fate has it to choose a saviour, then it is a good thing that fate chose you," he said to Harry in a voice that Harry thought, really sounded like a younger version of Professor Dumbledore. 

"You'd best be off, don't want to miss lunch now would you," said Professor Abe as he dismissed Harry. 

Harry was still thinking about what Professor Abe had just told him as he left the classroom. He didn't feel like a saviour. He didn't want to be the saviour of the wizarding world. He didn't need more constant attention being thrown at him. He didn't want to have so much hope being put on him, when he wasn't sure if he could deliver upon that hope. There was that part that Professor Abe mentioned about it being a good thing that fate had chose him. Could fate have chosen someone better? Or couldn't it have chosen someone worse? He was still thinking about this when he shoved those questions and feelings aside. 

"I may not like it. I may not want to do it. But I'm going to put an end to this, one way or another," he thought as he remembered his friends, his surrogate family, and all those he held dear. "And I will have my vengeance," went a small voice in Harry's head as he walked into the great hall for lunch.

Note: This chapter might not be very creative. The last part will probably have some of you wondering. Won't explain it here, but maybe you've already had a clue about where this is heading. To the Loony Lovegood fans, I'm really sorry but I still haven't found a way to work her into the story. I will soon I promise. 


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and characters related to it. Harry Potter and its characters are the intellectual property of the talented J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Scholastic, Raincoats, and Bloomsbury books. Storyline and plot have been developed partially based on the plots, characters, and storylines of the first 5 installments of Harry Potter, The Sorcerer's Stone, The Chamber of Secrets, The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Goblet of Fire, and The Order of the Phoenix.

Author's Note: I noticed that I made a big boo boo in the quidditch part of the story. As I was looking through book 5 to refer to Miss Rowling's writing style, I realised that Katie Bell should still be in Hogwarts during Harry's 6th year. I've therefore made a slight change to chapter 10 when Harry was made team captain. Sorry for the muck up. I did update earlier but I noticed some grammatical errors in this chapter. Just reposted it. Sorry bout that. 

Chapter 13

Quidditch was probably the one thing that Harry had been most looking forward to since his return to Hogwarts. Even though Hogwarts had always been, and will probably always be the place he would truly call home, there was a constant weight around him that he couldn't seem to shake off. On this particular evening however, Harry was itching with anticipation as he was practically skipping towards the quidditch pitch with his firebolt in hand. Being the captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team did allow him some privileges, as he had called for a short meeting with the members of the old team just before dinner. Ron and Ginny had said that they would join him on the quidditch pitch later as they were finishing up some homework. Harry knew that he still had quite an amount of homework to complete, but the desire to be in the air again quickly overruled his desire to complete Snape's essay on the Everlasting Sleep potion. 

He arrived at the quidditch pitch to see that the Ravenclaw quidditch team had just finished their practice. He could see that the Ravenclaw team did not seem to be lacking any players, which could only mean that they had had tryouts for the team earlier on. He distinctly remembered that the Ravenclaw team had one or two 7th years the previous year, and was bound to have needed some replacements. Padma Patil waved and smiled at Harry as he approached the pitch. 

"Can't wait to get back on the pitch can you?" asked Padma cheekily. 

"Hi Padma. Yeah well, I was banned last year, remember? How was the practice?" he asked. 

"Tiring, Cho's been quite the taskmaster on us. Seems to want to make up for that miss last season," said Padma wearily. 

"Oh, Cho's the captain?" asked Harry although he wasn't very surprised. Cho was, after all, a very good seeker. 

"Yeah, she's quite a good leader, but I think she's trying to be abit of a perfectionist," said Padma. "I've gotta run, see you Harry," she said as she bade him goodbye to catch up with her team mates who were heading for the Ravenclaw showers. 

Harry continued walking towards the pitch, only to see the girl that he had dated (for a short time) the previous year. Cho Chang was still the very pretty girl that Harry had first laid eyes on during his third year, when they had been opponents on the quidditch pitch. Surprising though, Harry's stomach was no longer feeling the same way it did whenever he set eyes on her the previous year.  

"Hello Cho," said Harry as he stood next to her. She seemed to be busy putting away drawings and what had seemed like strategies into her bag. 

"Oh hi Harry," she said a little flushed. "I err….didn't see you. Having a team practice?" she asked. Harry could see that she was apparently trying to busy herself with her packing.

"Something like that," he said. "I've really missed this place," he said looking at the quidditch pitch longingly. 

Cho looked up at Harry and for the first time their eyes met. "I forgot how much you must have missed quidditch since last year," she said to him. 

"Err… Harry is it okay if I talked to you about something?" she asked in low voice. 

"Sure, what's up?"

"Well…..." she said. "You know after last year, I was thinking………well……..do you still want to go out sometime?"

Harry was taken slightly aback by this. After all, he was the one who was mustering all his courage to ask Cho Chang out the previous year, and here she was, asking him out. 

"I thought you were seeing Michael Corner," he said to her, remembering the conversation he had heard between Ron and Ginny in the train last year, about Ginny leaving Michael Corner and him going off with Cho. 

"Well, we're not really seeing each other anymore," she said. "I was thinking if….well….we could try and work things out. Things didn't go all that well for us last year did it?" she asked. 

"No…I can't say it did," said Harry. He wasn't too sure if he still wanted to go out with Cho. Sure, he thought she was really pretty and had got along quite well with her during the short time that they had gone out, but it seemed so far away now. 

"I don't know Cho, I'm not sure if it would really work out between us," he had said this a little more confidently than he thought he would. Truth be told, he wasn't too sure if he was totally over Cho as he looked at her. 

"Oh…," she said sounding a little disappointed. "Is there someone else?" she asked.

"Not at the moment Cho. It's just……….well, I'm not too sure if I want to start something with anyone just yet," he said to her. "Look, I know that we've had some differences in the past, and that we've misunderstood each other. It may not have worked out between us but I really hope that we can still be friends," he added slightly hastily. 

"Just friends?" asked Cho. 

"Just friends."

Cho still looked a little disappointed at that, but she managed to smile and say, "I can live with that. You're right though, I'm not too sure if it would really work out between us even if we tried."

Harry smiled. "No hard feelings?" he asked.

Cho shook her head and gave him a slight hug which caught him slightly by surprise. "Oops, sorry," she said quickly letting go of him. 

"It's okay," said Harry slightly flustered. 

"Well I'd better be going then, don't want to be seen talking with the captain of an opposing team," she said as she picked up her bags. "I'll be seeing you around then," she said to him as she turned to leave. 

"Yeah, sure thing," said Harry as he waved goodbye. 

"Where did I learn to talk to girls like that?" he asked himself. "Must have actually learnt something from Hermione last year," he thought as he looked at the evening skies, the evening breeze seemingly breathing on his face. He closed his eyes and let the moment pass him by, and then swung his leg over his old faithful, and kicked off the ground. 

This was what he had been missing for almost a whole year. This was the feeling that he had longed for every waking moment when he thought about Hogwarts. He was zooming across the pitch, circling the grounds at breakneck speed, the wind ruffling his messy hair, flowing through his robes as they flapped behind him. He felt like a bird, a very fast bird, zooming through the air, free from the constraints of the world, as the colours of the grounds and the sky became a complete blur to him. He had forgotten how much he loved to fly. 

"Oi Harry," shouted Ron as he came to a halt. Grinning sheepishly, he turned his firebolt back towards the ground and landed in front of his smiling red haired friend. 

"Couldn't wait to get up there eh?" asked Ron. 

"I've missed it," said Harry. 

"Yeah well, thought you would be doing something like this before we got here," said Ron. "There's Ginny," he motioned to his sister approaching the pitch. 

"Hi guys. I saw Katie right behind me. I think she had to pass something to Professor McGonogall. Kirke and Sloper are on their way too. I saw them just before I left the common room," she said. 

True enough; the remaining members of the team were approaching the quidditch pitch just as Ginny finished saying that. Harry beckoned for them to have a seat on the grass before he started his 'speech'. 

"Well then, since we're all here. This is just a short meeting to explain that we will be looking for two new chasers for our team," he said to them. "Katie will be helping me make the decision for the chasers. I'm sorry Ginny that I can't automatically put you as the chaser although you were on the team last year," he said apologetically, looking at Ginny.

"It's alright Harry I understand," said Ginny reassuringly. 

"Another thing, I must emphasize that we will have to train extra hard for this coming season. We may be the defending champions but I dare say that the team was a little lucky last year," said Harry. 

"Ahem, there was skill involved Harry," argued Ron. 

Harry grinned. "No doubt about that Ron, but still, we all agree that the team could become reasonably better," he said as he was answered with nods (especially from Katie, Ron and Ginny). "I'm not expecting the both of you," he said motioning to Kirke and Sloper, "To become as good as Fred and George. With some training though, I'm sure that the both of you could become fairly good beaters," he said to them although he wasn't sure if he meant that. He had seen the both of them play the previous year and needless to say, they had a really long way to go before they could even shadow the twin's abilities. 

"Anyway, I needed some suggestions on how we should select the chasers. Seeing as how I wasn't present when you guys had to select new beaters and a seeker last season," he said to them. 

"Harry," said Katie Bell, "I was thinking of something like a test match, depending on the number of people that turn up. I think I can manage playing keeper for a few matches," she suggested. 

"Excellent. Does anyone have any other suggestions?" they all shook their heads. "Great then, it's settled. We'll have a test match tomorrow, three chasers and a keeper on each side?" he asked Katie as she nodded in response. "What about these two?" he asked, looking at Kike and Sloper. 

"Err, Harry," went Andrew Kirke, "I think Jack and I will just hit the bludgers in the directions of all the chasers during the match. If that's fine with you," he suggested. 

"Great. I think that'll work. It'll be good practice for the both of you…….that is if you're feeling up to it?" he asked as he was answered with another nodded response. 

"So that settles it. The quidditch pitch tomorrow, 10 a.m. sharp. You'd better be up Ron," said Harry nudging his best friend. 

"Oh come off it, I'll be awake," said Ron indignantly. 

"Oh and Ginny," said Harry, "make sure I'm awake as well," he added sheepishly as the team laughed at their captain. 

"Will that be all oh, captain my captain?" asked Ginny cheekily. 

"Yeah I think we should make it back to the great hall for dinner. That'll be all," said Harry as he dismissed the team. 

"Harry, do you think I'll be okay tomorrow?" asked Ginny as they returned to the Gryffindor common room after dinner that night. "I'm feeling a little nervous about having to play chaser tomorrow," she said a little anxiously.

"Don't worry 'bout it Ginny, you'll do great," he told her reassuringly. "I've seen you fly and I think you're a great flyer." 

"Thanks Harry. I think I'd better turn in early for the night. Don't want to be late for the tryout," she said as she bade him goodnight.

"Good night Ginny," he said. "Oh and Ginny," he called to her as she turned around. He had wanted to wish her luck, but he was set back by the sudden amazement at how different she looked compared to her younger years. She really was very attractive with her flaming red hair illuminated softly in the flickering lights of the flame-lit room, her soft features complemented by the attractive figure that had filled out during the summer. Harry seemed to be caught in a slight daze.

"Yes Harry?"

"Err…….good luck tomorrow," he said coming out of the slight daze that he was in, and he couldn't help but realise that his face was heating up a little when he said that. Why was that happening? He wondered. 

"Thanks Harry. Good night," she said to him with a smile as he watched her disappear into the girl's dormitory, still trying very hard not to blush. 

"Yeah I think I'll be going off too mate," said Ron indifferent to his best friend's discomfort. "Night Harry," he said as he walked up to the boy's dormitory. 

Harry sat down on one of the couches in front of the fire as Hermione plopped down beside him. "Do I sense a little discomfort when it comes to talking to a certain Weasley?" she asked him with a mischievous grin. 

"What are you talking about Hermione?" asked Harry trying to sound surprised. In truth, he was very surprised that Hermione noticed that he had been trying not to blush when he bade Ginny goodnight. 

"Well then, are you trying to say that you haven't noticed our little Ginny grow up all this while?" asked Hermione in a sort of giggly tone. 

Harry hadn't really thought about that. It's true that he had been shocked by Ginny's appearance when he first saw her during the summer at Grimmauld Place. But he had always thought of Ginny as Ron's little sister, the youngest Weasley, the little girl who had to try hard not to blush when he was in the same room as her. Or did he? 

"Err….," was all that Harry managed to say. 

Hermione giggled. "It's okay Harry, I won't tell Ron," she said to him. 

"But Hermione I'm not……" he couldn't finish his sentence though. He wasn't interested in Ginny Weasley. Was he? He really didn't know. One thing he did know though, he was starting to feel different whenever Ginny was in the same room as he was. It wasn't something he felt he could explain, just that he felt light-hearted whenever he heard her giggle, and he didn't seem to lose his temper that much anymore, especially when Ginny was around. 

"Still not too sure about it Harry?" asked Hermione. She had stopped giggling and had asked him rather seriously, she was still wearing a grin on her face. 

"Well, I'm really not sure about it Hermione. I mean, there's still so much I don't know about her," he said, which was true. He still didn't truly know Ginny even though they had known each other for so many years, they never really got a chance to sit down and get to know each other, with all the things that were going on. "And then there's Cho," he added. 

"What about Cho?" asked Hermione. "Do you still have feelings for her?" she asked curiously. 

"Err…..not really. At least I don't think I do," said Harry. "I did run into her though, just now at the quidditch pitch. She asked me if I still wanted to go out sometime. She's not with Michael Corner anymore." 

"And do you want to go out with her?" asked Hermione. 

"Well…….. I told her that all I wanted to be was friends. That I thought it wouldn't work out between us. Do you think I hurt her feelings or something?" asked Harry. 

"Oh……..was she upset when you told her that?" she asked.

"She seemed a little at first. But she smiled later and gave me a hug," he said. 

"Well, I don't think you upset her too much. Maybe she was a little disappointed that things weren't going to work out between you, but she should be fine," said Hermione dismissively. "Does this mean that you're no longer interested in Cho?"

"I'm not sure. I don't think of her as much though these days. I don't even see her in the same way as I did last year," said Harry. 

"Well, you probably need some time to sort out your feelings Harry," said Hermione. "If you want to get to know Ginny though, it would help if you asked her out. Even if it's just as friends," she added. 

Harry wasn't too sure how to respond to this. He simply stared at the fireplace and wondered, was the reason why he didn't feel as strongly for Cho as he did the last year have anything to do with Ginny? Was he just feeling that way because he had seen her during the summer? Or was it just because she had become a seemingly different person over the past 2 years? One thing though, he was glad that he was able to talk to Hermione about all this. 

"I'll see how it goes Hermione. Who knows? I might just ask Ginny Weasley out on a date in the near future," he said with a slight grin. "Thanks Hermione. I've really got to start coming to you for girl advice," he said. 

"No problem Harry," said Hermione with a smile. "It's good to see that you've developed some kind of understanding towards girls," she grinned. "Not like some people I know." 

It was getting late, and Hermione mentioned that they should be getting to bed. Harry bade her goodnight and retired into his own room. Before he went to sleep though, the image of a red-headed girl with short hair appeared in his head. Smiling to himself, he made it a point that he should get to know Ginny Weasley a little better in the near future. 

"I just hope I don't start blushing every time she's in the same room. Now that would be really funny," he thought as he closed his eyes and his mind drifted off into a dreamless sleep. 

Author's Note: I did mention that I don't intend for Harry and Ginny to go into a full-fledged romance just yet. I know some of you might be disappointed as to how slow this is taking (especially when it comes to Ginny and Harry) but I have to say I still haven't worked out how the sparks would really fly between them. After all, J.K. Rowling didn't give me much reference for writing the romance part of the book. It will all (most of) have to be made up thinking from the perspective of a 16 year old I guess. Sorry Loony Lovegood's still not in the story. She'll be there soon. 


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and characters related to it. Harry Potter and its characters are the intellectual property of the talented J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Scholastic, Raincoats, and Bloomsbury books. Storyline and plot have been developed partially based on the plots, characters, and storylines of the first 5 installments of Harry Potter, The Sorcerer's Stone, The Chamber of Secrets, The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Goblet of Fire, and The Order of the Phoenix.

  
Author's note: Thanks again for the reviews. Truly appreciate it. Little more romance in this chapter but not a lot.

Chapter 14

"There's hope for this team yet," thought Harry as he looked over the selection of the new Gryffindor chasers that Saturday morning. It was a beautiful morning for quidditch; the sun was high above their heads, with clear cloudless skies. 

The team tryout had gone quite well. There were a dozen odd hopeful participants that turned up for the selection. Among those that had showed up included Harry's very own dorm mate, Seamus Finnigan. Harry had divided them into 4 different teams, each taking turns to play one another as he watched over the players. Harry had asked Professor McGonogall to attend the team tryouts that morning, out of courtesy of course. Harry didn't feel that the Transfiguration professor's presence would do much good to sooth the nerves of the already jumpy bunch of Gryffindors gathered that morning. Professor McGonogall did oblige, choosing to watch from a good distance from the pitch, so as not to distract the players from their games. 

As the team had discussed the day before, the tryouts were held by dividing the participants into teams, with Ron and Katie tending to the goal on either side, Kirke and Sloper swinging their bats at the bludgers, hitting them in every direction trying to find a chaser to hit. Ron's confidence as keeper had seemingly grew since they won the quidditch cup the previous season. He was giving the chasers that were scoring against him a very hard time indeed, making excellent saves time and again. He still made a few mistakes, allowing in a few goals, but overall he was less tense than he was when he first made it as the team keeper. Katie was also doing quite well, playing out of position. Sure, she had allowed more goals in compared to Ron, but Harry could visibly see the differences between the chasers that very day. He had noticed a few 4th years that he thought would be excellent additions to the team in the coming year when Katie left school. Kirke and Sloper were doing reasonably well, which only led Harry to believe that they had managed some form of practice during the summer, or maybe if it was just their nerves that gave them problems the previous year. They were doing a reasonable job of making the chaser's lives difficult although there were a few times that Harry wondered if Sloper had intentionally hit the bludger the way he did, or if the bludger just happened to fly into his bat. Nevertheless, they performed as well as could be expected for players of their calibre. 

By the end of the tryout, it as clear to Harry as to whom he would select as the two new chasers for the Gryffindor quidditch team. Seamus had performed exceptionally well in all his test matches. He had displayed great flying ability and he had managed to baffle Ron once or twice when he had scored spectacular goals. One problem that Harry noticed though, was that Seamus had the tendency to carry the quaffle a little too often. He hogged the quaffle quite abit, which reduced his effectiveness as a team player. 

The other chaser that had caught Harry's eye (in more ways than one) was none other than, Ginny Weasley. Harry already knew that she was quite a good flyer, but he never quite expected her to play the way that she did. She didn't score many goals, only putting two or three quaffles through the hoops during the test matches, but she displayed a keen sense for the game. She had managed to dodge bludgers that were being sent her way. She had wiggled in and out of opposing chasers, as well as set up a great many chances for her team mates to score. She also managed to steal the quaffle from the opposing chasers on a great number of occasions, her rather small build making her extra speedy and almost undetectable when she snuck up behind opposing chasers. Harry also had a weird flipping feeling whenever she managed to score on those few occasions. He waited to talk to Katie Bell before he told Professor McGonogall of his choices. 

Katie had agreed with Harry on Ginny, and although she was impressed with Seamus's skills as a chaser, she pointed out Seamus's seemingly selfish play on the pitch to Harry. However, she did not make too much of a fuss about Harry's decision, as she agreed that Seamus could be trained to be a team player. Professor Harry had gone to see Professor McGonogall about the new selections, and he noticed Ron and Katie giving Ginny the 'thumbs up' as he left the pitch. 

Professor McGonogall seemed to be thinking somewhere along the lines of Katie, and promptly agreed with Harry's decision, leaving the team captain to make his announcements to those that had tried out on that day. 

"I regret that we only have two selections for the team this year," he said to the crowd of Gryffindors. "Some of you have shown exceptional promise in today's tryouts and I urge you to try again for the team next year, as we will need a chaser to replace Katie when she leaves. On this day however, the new chasers for the Gryffindor quidditch team will be Seamus Finnigan and Ginny Weasley," he announced. 

There was murmur of disappointment among some of the people, but they accepted the team captain's decision. Harry noticed Katie encouraging some of the 4th years that he had thought, would make excellent chasers in the future. He went to see Seamus and Ginny after his announcement. 

"Harry! I made it! I'm so excited. Thank you so much for picking me," said Ginny excitedly. 

"Don't thank me Ginny. You pretty much landed the spot all by yourself," he said as he beamed at her. Seamus though, was not as composed as Ginny. 

"I'm on the team! I'm on the team! I knew that being dorm-mates with the captain of the team had to count for something!" said an ecstatic Seamus as he shook hands with Harry and Ron. 

"Well Seamus you did play quite well today. But I'll be blunt, you were a little selfish on the pitch and we'll need to train you to be more of a team player," said Harry. 

"I was selfish?" asked Seamus. 

"Well you were quite a hog on the pitch today if you didn't notice," snapped Ron as Seamus shot a look at him.

"What are you trying to say?" asked Seamus, gritting his teeth slightly. The tone of which Ron had said that apparently aggravated him a little.

Harry could sense a little tension building up between Seamus and Ron. He decided to calm things down a little before Ron or Seamus ended up saying something they'd regret. 

"You'll just need some time to fit in to the team, that's all. I'll tell you guys about the next training session once I've worked out a schedule. Good work out there today Seamus," said Harry as Seamus seemed to ignore the earlier tension and shook Harry's hand again before he headed for the Gryffindor showers. 

"What was that about Ron?" asked Harry as they returned to the Gryffindor common room. 

"What was what?" asked Ron. 

"You snapped at Seamus when you told him he was a selfish player," said Harry. 

"I did? Guess I did it without realising," replied Ron shrugging a little. "I guess some part of me still hasn't really forgiven him for calling you a liar last year. Think I was a little too straightforward when I told him he was a selfish player?"

"Well, the tone of your voice spoke for itself." 

Ron shrugged again and didn't say anything. Harry had been touched by his friend's loyalty the previous year, standing up for him when Seamus hadn't believed him about Voldemort's return. 

"I'll clear it up with him later I guess," said Ron. "Too bad Fred and George aren't around anymore. I can just imagine what it would be like, when they announce the Gryffindor team members, _and introducing the Gryffindor team, Bell, Potter, Weasley, Weasley, Weasley and Weasley!" he said light-heartedly as the both of them chuckled._

They entered the common room to see a wave of congratulations surrounding Ginny. She looked really happy and was grinning from ear to ear, a smile which made Harry's knees buckle slightly as he had to suddenly fight to keep his composure.

"Well Harry, I hope that your decisions today were not influenced in any way," said Hermione playfully as they entered the common room. 

"I don't know what you're suggesting Hermione but….," said Harry defensively before he was cut off. 

"I know Harry I was just teasing," she said with a twinkle in her eye. 

Later that night, Harry was having a tough time trying to keep up with the homework that he had left unattended to until the weekend. His mind was already suffering from the long day that he had, and all that he had learned in potions that week seemed to have leaked out of his ears. He was having a hard time trying to figure out the function of salamander blood when used with the everlasting sleep potion. 

"This is hopeless!" he cried out, tossing his quill on the table. "Times like these I wonder why I even bothered taking potions again," he said hopelessly as he rested his forehead on one of his hands.  

"Hey mate, like I said, I'm glad it's not me in the dungeons with Snape every Wednesday," said Ron with a grin. "Can't help you out with potions Harry," he said slightly apologetically. 

"I can't believe that it's only the first week of the term and I'm already stuck on a potions essay. Somebody just turn me into a ferret, then at least I'll have an excuse for not finishing the essay," said Harry as Ginny, Hermione and Ron laughed out loud. 

"Oh just let me have a look at the essay Harry," said Hermione when she had finished laughing. 

"Thanks Hermione." 

Ginny was doing her Astronomy homework. Harry just stared dreamily at her as she scratched her nose with the tip of her quill, which was a habit of hers that Harry had noticed. She was writing her notes on her parchment, her mouth mimicking the words as she wrote them down. Her fringe fell over her eyes, covering her sight and she lifted her small hands to push her hair out of her eyes. Harry had thought that her brown eyes were twinkling, matching the redness of her hair. 

"Harry……..Harry!" called Hermione, snapping Harry out of the daze he was in. "I was telling you that salamander blood is used to neutralize the effects of adding dragon's liver into the potion. Have you been paying any attention?" she asked, slightly irritated by her friend's lack of attention. 

"Sorry Hermione, just drifted there for a second," said Harry recomposing himself. He really wondered what had gotten into him. Hermione seemed to have noticed where Harry's attention was and was grinning madly. 

"I'll just walk you through the essay," she said to him. "Hopefully we'll get it done by the end of the night." 

So Hermione helped him out with the rest of his essay. She had helped him tremendously by pointing out his errors, or merely acting as a walking, breathing, talking reference book that Harry could constantly refer to whenever he needed. Ron had excused himself a little earlier, saying that he was very tired from waking up early that day. Harry knew what Ron meant. His eyelids were already drooping from having to wake up early that morning for the team tryouts. It was quite a while before he had finally managed to finish his essay and allowed Hermione to look through it. Ginny had already finished her work earlier and had gone to bed. 

"So Harry, still wondering about Ginny Weasley?" asked Hermione cheekily as she handed him back his essay. "The essay's fine by the way, shouldn't be too much of a problem even by Snape's demanding standard." 

Harry was really tired by this time and was not really in the mood to talk about his love-life with Hermione when something suddenly occurred to him. 

"Err.. Hermione?" he asked.

"Yes Harry?"

"You know last year, you said something about Ginny being 'over' me…," said Harry uncertainly. "Well I was just wondering….you know…..if….." 

"Oh Harry," giggled Hermione. "You're still hopeless sometimes when it comes to girls. Yes Ginny got over you, meaning she got over hero worshipping you a long time ago," she explained. "It just means she's looking at things more maturely right now." 

Harry was slightly relieved at hearing this. He just smiled and yawned again. 

"Well you'd best get to bed Harry. You've had quite a day," said Hermione. 

"Yeah, I think I'm going. Night Hermione," he said as he got up to leave. "Aren't you going to bed too?" he asked. 

"Yeah I am. I'm just writing a letter to Viktor. I'll just finish it and go to bed," she said. 

Sometimes Harry really wondered about Hermione and Viktor Krum. She never mentioned anything about going to Bulgaria to visit him after the final trial in his fourth year. He assumed that Hermione didn't go to Bulgaria because she didn't mention it, or did she? He made a mental note to ask Hermione about it the next time he got a chance before he closed his eyes and went to sleep. 

_"It has been done, my lord," _

_The man that was Peter Pettigrew did not seem as Harry had remembered him. The little rat like man that was once his parent's best friend had a look of evil confidence about him, his silvery hand hung by his side as he bowed to greet his master._

_"Well done Wormtail. I am pleased that you have made yourself most useful in the past year," said Voldemort._

_"Thank you my lord. I only live to serve you," said the man. _

_"Ah Wormtail, ever the boot licker. But yes, you have pleased me, and Lord Voldemort always remembers his faithful," said Voldemort venomously. "Now, it is nearly time. Nearly time for me to claim what is rightfully mine, and no one, not even Potter will be able to defy me again. _

_Voldemort had turned around and he picked up a glass-like orb, which was jet black in colour and glowing faintly. _

_"Soon……..soon the time will come. And I will claim what is rightfully mine," he said as his maniacal laughter echoed through the halls, bringing a chill down Harry's spine. _

Harry woke with a start. His forehead was throbbing and his scar was burning like it had never done before, he was covered in cold sweat and his hands were shaking. He knew what had just happened. He had just witnessed something that Lord Voldemort was planning, in his dreams. This time though, it was different from the previous year, he wasn't seeing things through Lord Voldemort's eyes. He had been in the same room as Voldemort, looking at what was going on as though he was not there. He didn't know what to think. Was he being possessed by Voldemort again? What was he planning? Is he in danger? Are they in danger? His mind was racing with the endless possibilities that the dream could have meant and slowly, he regained his composure. He knew who he had to see. He had to see the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. 


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and characters related to it. Harry Potter and its characters are the intellectual property of the talented J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Scholastic, Raincoats, and Bloomsbury books. Storyline and plot have been developed partially based on the plots, characters, and storylines of the first 5 installments of Harry Potter, The Sorcerer's Stone, The Chamber of Secrets, The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Goblet of Fire, and The Order of the Phoenix

Author's Note: I thank the reviewers who have stuck with the story so far. I hope I can live up to expectations for this chapter. Thank you for pointing out the little typos in the previous chapters, I did notice them but I haven't changed them yet. Some chapters I have made slight changes to but I have yet to correct all of them. 

Chapter 15

Harry was still shivering slightly as he walked through the familiar passageway that led to the headmaster's office. It was already quite late, and Harry was unsure if the headmaster would still be awake at this hour. He wasn't even sure if he should bother Professor Dumbledore with his dream. Nevertheless, he had to tell Professor Dumbledore about the new dream he had just experienced. He had experienced enough in the past to know that he could not dismiss his dreams involving Voldemort. He had to know if the dream meant anything, or if it meant that they were in danger. He arrived at the stone gargoyles and muttered the password. 

"Crazy Conker Candy," he said out loud as the gargoyles on the wall sprang to life and stepped aside for him, revealing the continuing spiral staircase beyond them. 

Harry walked up the stairwell, wondering if Professor Dumbledore would still be awake. It was already quite late, and although he had managed to see the headmaster in the past year when he had dreamt about Mr. Weasley being attacked, he wasn't all too sure if the headmaster kept late hours at all times. He arrived at the oak door which led to the headmaster's room. There were no sounds coming from behind the door as he rapped on the door with the brass griffin shaped knocker which hung on the door. 

Harry waited for the doors to open. There was no reaction for a while, and he was thinking that he shouldn't be disturbing the headmaster at this hour when the doors suddenly opened, making him jump a little. Harry walked into the now familiar headmaster's office to see Professor Dumbledore sitting behind his desk smiling at him. He was wearing dark blue robes with crescent moons embroidered all over the material. Fawkes was perched behind Professor Dumbledore. The beautiful Phoenix which Harry had first laid eyes on in his second year was apparently sleeping. The sight of the Headmaster and the Phoenix were surprisingly calming to Harry's nerves as he spoke to Professor Dumbledore. 

"I'm sorry to disturb you at this hour professor. I wasn't even too sure if I should have come to see you at this hour," said Harry as he walked towards the headmaster's table, the sounds of snoring echoing softly around the room. They were coming from the portraits of the former headmasters of Hogwarts, which were very useful to the current headmaster, as Harry had found out the previous year. 

"It's alright Harry. You will find that as you grow older, it becomes more difficult to sleep for too many hours. I am normally still awake at this hour and you do not have to worry about having disturbed me," said the Headmaster in his usual calm tone as he beckoned for Harry to take a seat. 

"Is something troubling you Harry?"

"Well….it's like this professor," said Harry as he went on to explain about the dream he had just experienced, about Voldemort talking to Wormtail about a plan, about reclaiming something that was rightfully his, and the black orb that Voldemort was holding. 

Professor Dumbledore was silent for a moment. He seemed to be looking intently at Harry, something which he did not do the previous year. Harry was relieved that the Headmaster no longer avoided his eyes as he did the previous year. Professor Dumbledore stood up and walked around the room for a moment. He seemed to be deep in thought before he spoke,

"Was this dream the same as the ones you experienced last year?" he asked, referring to the dreams that Harry had had the previous year when he had seen things through Voldemort's eyes.

Harry shook his head. 

"It was more like, I was there, in the same room as Voldemort and Wormtail," he said. 

Professor Dumbledore seemed to be thinking again. After a while he looked at Harry again and asked, "And this black orb you say Voldemort was holding, could you describe it?"

Harry thought about the orb for a while. He tried to picture it in his mind as he had seen it in his dreams. 

"It looked like it was made of glass, yet it was so black that it could have just as easily be made out of pure marble," he said as he tried to recall. "It was also glowing faintly." 

Professor Dumbledore had returned to his seat as Harry finished describing the orb, he didn't ask anything else about the orb. The headmaster still looked as calm and old as he always was, which to Harry, was a great relief. If Professor Dumbledore was remaining calm then there usually was nothing to worry about. 

"What could it have meant, Professor?" asked Harry. 

"I can only guess, Harry. I'm afraid I do not have all the answers," said Professor Dumbledore quietly. "It appears that Voldemort might carry out his ambitions towards the wizarding world a little sooner than expected. From what you have told me Harry, his preparations for a second war are nearing completion." 

Surprisingly, Harry was neither worried nor concerned about what the Headmaster had to tell him. Normally, he would have expected to feel anxious, or to feel troubled that the most powerful Dark Wizard the world has ever known was ready to strike soon. It must have had something to do with the calm old wizard sitting in front of him. Albus Dumbledore, probably the greatest wizard the world had ever seen, besides maybe Merlin himself. He was sitting there looking as calm as the gentle sea during a low tide. Harry grinned slightly. 

"You've already made preparations for this professor, haven't you?" asked Harry. He had a feeling that the preparations that had been mentioned by Remus and Professor Abe had something to do with what Voldemort was planning. 

Professor Dumbledore smiled. "Intelligence has provided the Order with enough knowledge to be ready for whatever Voldemort has been planning. We have taken the necessary precautions and hopefully, we can buy some time for ourselves by slowing or interfering with his plans," said the headmaster calmly. "Yes, I have been making some preparations for the battle ahead, with the help of Order members and my brother of course."

"The ministry, under the leadership of Cornelius Fudge…" continued Professor Dumbledore, "are relatively inexperienced in handling matters of tremendous pressure. Sometimes it is best that matters are taken in our own hands," he said with a wink. 

"But professor, won't we need the ministry's help to fight Voldemort?" asked Harry slightly confused. 

"Yes Harry, you are right. We will indeed require the aid of the ministry if we are to fight Voldemort. I have said this before. We are only as strong as we are united. I am sure that you have heard of the chaos that is currently within the ministry. It seems that the ministry is at a loss and is confused if not unsure of how to deal with Voldemort. By the time they get their act together, I'm afraid it may be too late," said Professor Dumbledore, who still said this calmly yet there was a slight tone of urgency in his voice. 

"There are members within the ministry however, that have realised the urgency in which we have to 'get our act together' so to speak. Individuals like Mafalda Hopkirk, whom I'm sure you have met during your brief stay at headquarters, have been willing to aid the Order directly."

Harry was relieved to know that the headmaster had already been making preparations to face Voldemort all this while. The old wizard's seemingly undying resolve did a lot to calm Harry's nerves and assure him that they were not in danger yet. Harry understood why Hagrid had said that they had nothing to worry about as long as Dumbledore was around. 

"I must urge you Harry, and I'm sure you already know this and have heard this countless times, but work hard in the extra classes you have been receiving. The knowledge you gain with your professors will be invaluable to you in the future," said Professor Dumbledore sagely. 

"I know that you are prepared to face what you have to do, but rest assured Harry, I will do anything and everything I can to think of to find another way to deal with Voldemort. If there is a chance that he can be defeated by any other means, we will try it," said Professor Dumbledore reassuringly. 

Harry was heartened by what Professor Dumbledore had just told him. Yet, he felt that he should tell Professor Dumbledore that he was willing to face the challenge. That he knew what he had to do and was prepared to face it. He couldn't quite find the words to say all this out loud though, and he merely nodded his head. There was one thing however, that was disturbing him greatly, especially after the dream he had. 

"Professor, is it possible that Voldemort will try and mislead me again……..," asked Harry as he had to swallow before he finished his sentence, "like he did last time?" 

Professor Dumbledore looked through his half moon glasses at Harry. "I doubt that Voldemort will be able to influence you that way again Harry," he said. "Unless I'm mistaken, prior to tonight, your scar hasn't been hurting as often or at all since the events of last year?"

Harry hadn't thought about his scar. The throbbing pain in his scar had been so constant in the past 2 years that at times he was able to ignore it completely. He hadn't realised that he had not felt any pain in his forehead since….

"Since Sirius died," muttered Harry. "What does that mean professor?" he asked. The look on Professor Dumbledore's face had depicted a kind of emotion that Harry was hard to make out. It was somewhere between the look of kindness and sadness. 

"Harry, do you remember, back in your first year, when I told you about the love your mother gave you when she died protecting you? Do you remember when I told you that the one thing that Voldemort did not understand was love?"

Harry nodded. 

"Harry, when Voldemort possessed you in the Department of Mysteries last year, he had wanted me to kill you, hoping that I would do so in the hope of destroying him as well. I know you don't want to think of it, but I need you to relive that moment for a while for you to understand. Could you describe your emotions at that time?" he asked. 

Harry didn't want to think about that moment in the Department of Mysteries, but he closed his eyes to think of that moment when Voldemort had caused him great pain when he was possessed for that short period of time. 

"I wanted the pain to end," he said looking up. "I wanted you to kill me, to end the pain. I wanted to be with Sirius again," he said sadly. 

"You wanted to be with Sirius again Harry," said Professor Dumbledore. "You had just lost the man you had come to love as a surrogate father and a brother to you in a way. I know it is difficult for you to think of it again, but, I expect that at that very moment you were experiencing the feelings of incredible grief and mourning at the loss of someone who was so dear to you." 

Harry could feel his eyes burning again when he relived how he felt that night in his mind, when Sirius was killed. He had already talked about all this at the end of last year. Why did Dumbledore have to bring it up again? What did that have to do with anything? He couldn't open his mouth to say anything, instead he just nodded silently. 

"Harry, Voldemort could no longer possess you that night as you were feeling all those emotions which he does not understand and cannot bear to feel. It must have pained him greatly to have shared the mind of someone who had that much love in his heart at that very moment. In a way Harry, Sirius's death had benefited you in a way. Your grief Harry, your love for your late godfather, your sorrow for losing someone you loved so much, has become your shield against Voldemort's attempts to control your mind. I believe, that he is unable to control you due to the feelings you have which he despises most," explained Professor Dumbledore. 

Harry understood what Dumbledore had said, but in his heart he was only listening half-heartedly. He was fighting back the feelings of grief and longing for Sirius to concentrate on the state of mind he should be in to face Voldemort. Dumbledore had just told him that Voldemort was ready to wage the second war. He couldn't let despair take over him. He couldn't let his sorrow drown him into being useless. He had to face Voldemort. He had to repay all the sadness that Voldemort had caused. He had to kill Voldemort, one way or the other. 

Harry and Dumbledore merely sat there in silence. After a short moment, Dumbledore spoke again. 

"I think it is best that you go back to bed Harry," said Professor Dumbledore. "For the mean time, try not to worry about anything outside of Hogwarts if you can. Work hard with Professors McGonogall and Flitwick, and Professor Abe when the time comes. I will write to Kingsley Shacklebolt. He needs to be informed that Voldemort may take action sooner than has been anticipated and that he will have to be on guard at all times." 

Harry stood up and nodded in silence. He turned to leave the Headmaster's room when he thought of something else that he wanted to ask. 

"Er.. Professor," 

"Yes Harry?" asked Professor Dumbledore, looking up from the piece of parchment he was writing. 

"You mentioned that you would be teaching me some 'extra classes' as well. Are we going to start anytime soon?" asked Harry. 

"Ahh yes Harry. You will be having some extra lessons with me. But at the moment, learn what you can from Professor McGonogall and Professor Flitwick first. I will inform you about our lessons when the time comes," said Professor Dumbledore. 

Harry nodded and turned to leave. 

"Oh and Harry," called Professor Dumbledore. Harry turned around to see what it was that the headmaster wanted. 

"Congratulations on being made captain of the Gryffindor Team," said Professor Dumbledore smiling, his eyes twinkling behind the half moon glasses. 

Harry smiled and thanked the Headmaster, bidding him goodnight. 


End file.
